A Pride of Lyons: Happy 5th Birthday, Mister!

In my last post I wrote about our upcoming trip to Texas. Blaine's 5th birthday came and went, as did our trip back to Austin and thank goodness I had just stocked up on Kleenex at Costco, because I needed them! What a wonderful time for our Mister and our family really. I would love to sit here and recount the whole weekend in Austin but my BF, Kari, did a fabulous job already, so I'll just direct you to her blog. (Thanks for doing the dirty work, Kari :) I'm just here to add in pictures and my own two cents.

We arrived in Dallas early (like 1:00 am early) on Saturday and schlepped over to Mimi and Pops for some rest and special family time. We spent the morning eating one of Mimi's excellent meals, talking and hanging out. Blaine (after a year of asking) received a remote control helicopter from Mimi and Pops so he was super pumped about that. We left around noon for our reunion with our long lost BF's: The Pembertons.

Opening his helicopter.

Do you see these faces?

Seriously, does it get any better than that? The smiles on our kids' faces (pre-little brother and sister) are filled with pure joy! I think Blaine remembers this joy deep down in his soul when he thinks of Siri. The only person he calls "friend" she has become such a special little girl to us - I'm so grateful for the friendship Blaine has with his BF today. Not to mention we really, really love the rest of the Pemberton clan and can't get enough of them.

Here are the kids nearly 4 years later in Austin where Kari (party-planner-extraordinaire, et al.) threw a great party for Blaine.

Making pizza for Blaine's birthday dinner.

I was taking a picture at the same time that Elliot was
so there is a weird light, but look how happy Mister is!

My tears began to flow before we even arrived at their house because Kari's friend had made the most amazing Spider-Man cake ever. This was extra special because I had failed to call the GF bakery in time and they could not make a GF cake for Saturday's festivities and when I told Mister this he very sadly reported that, "It's fine Mama, the only thing I ever wanted was a Spider-Man cake." And when I asked if cupcakes would be ok he said, "Mama, it's called a 'Birthday Cake' not 'Birthday CUP-cakes!'" Talk about a major mom-fail! Kari came to the rescue with the awesome talent of her friend and Blaine said it was one of his favorite surprises!

Then when we arrived we saw these amazing decorations, complete with a stuffed Spider-Man and goodie bags for each of the kids. Homemade pizza, cake, laughter, decorations and the sweetness of a much-needed reunion made the night perfect. As Kari mentioned, the kids did not skip a beat. Blaine hugged Siri when we arrived and then they ran off to "catch up."

As is tradition (well, 4 years) Blaine and Siri blow
out candles together.

Sunday morning we enjoyed fishing and canoeing at Zilker Park. Man, this trip made me miss Austin.

This is what HG did during the canoe-trip.
Super tired girl.

And then there was Chuy's. One of HG's favorite
places to sit: on Kari's lap.

We asked if these two could kiss and HG
was all about it until William went in for
another and then the next picture happened...

HG not quite ready for the love. We were
cracking up.

Sunday night ended with a bang. The bounce house in the backyard, a fire to roast marshmallows and I may or may not have eaten the rest of the cake... :) Monday morning came too quickly when we had to say our goodbyes. We left for Dallas full of many more good memories and (for me) too many extra calories. But hey, who am I to turn down good food! We were able to see Mimi and Pops for a quick lunch before boarding a plane for Colorado.

I think this is probably the best birthday Blaine has ever had. He was surrounded by people that love and cherish him and he spent a lot of time just being. Playing. Enjoying. Having Fun. What an awesome sight for David and me. And what a blessing for our family to have such great friends.

We've spent the last week recovering from our trip. Actually, both kids and I have bad colds so we've been laying low all week which is fine with me given how busy February was. I'll post in a separate blog about Blaine's 5th year and how special of a son he is to us. For now, I'll leave you with pictures of my silly and sweet 5 year old.