Today our sweet Miss Elise turns 9 years old! It’s hard to believe she is 9 already; I remember holding her as a newborn like it was yesterday. Although today is her actual birthday, her main celebration was held at home this past Saturday. It was a Pokemon-themed party, so kids started off doing a little Pokemon scavenger hunger, then everyone jumped in the pool for an hour or so.
After swimming, we came inside for food, cake, and presents. Elise’s cake this year was something to behold; it was certainly one of the fanciest cakes we’ve ever gotten. I don’t know how Jessica found this baker, but Elise and I went to her house on the day of the party and we couldn’t believe it when seeing it for the first time. The Pokemon theme was in full effect!
After cake and presents, plenty of kids got back in the pool. It’s over 100 degrees everyday here, so swimming is pretty much the only thing you can do outdoors during the middle of the day. Consequently, we’ve been swimming almost daily.
As far as today goes, Elise started her morning off by opening more presents from family. I got a video of the whole thing and added it to the kids’ YouTube channel, which you can see below. Around noon the kids rode with Mom down to the airport to pickup Grandma and Grandpa Rudd, who are out here visiting from Iowa through the weekend. We haven’t seen them since last Summer, so getting to see them on her birthday was special for Elise. We all went out for dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, which was a fun way to end her special day.
Beyond that, we’re having a great Summer, it’s just hard to believe how fast it’s going by. The kids go back to school on the second week of August, so we’ve only got a few more weeks of Summer, then the house will be quiet again while I’m working 🙂
We recently celebrated the 4th of July by having friends over for swimming, food, and fireworks. We lit off our own small fireworks at the house, then walked over to a park near our neighborhood to watch several different fireworks shows going on at various casinos. The one at Green Valley Ranch was really close and looked awesome, while the ones on the strip were cool to look at from a distance.
Although Summer break is starting to draw to a close, we do have one more exciting little trip to look forward to. On Sunday, July 31st, we’re going to leave early and head to Los Angeles for a couple days. We will spend that Sunday afternoon at the Santa Monica beach and pier, then the next day we’re going to Six Flags Magic Mountain! We’ve been wanting to do this for a while but waited until Enzo was tall enough for all the rollercoasters. I remember us taking Ava there on my birthday weekend when she was less than a year old, now here we are doing the same thing again nearly a decade later. I look forward to writing about it in next month’s post.
That’s about it for now. I hope Elise had a very happy birthday, and want her to know how proud her Mom and I are of her! She is such a great kid, a great sister to Ava and Enzo, and we all love her to the moon and back. Happy Birthday Elise!
