Happy 5th Bday Ry!

So the actual day of Rylan's birthday was on a Sunday but we made the most of it and had a great time! I had decided we'd have spaghetti for dinner since that is Rylan's favorite. And to make it even more fun we invited my family over to enjoy it with us! He was thrilled to be able to spend his birthday with his cousins.
Kev's parents came down and brought Rylan a birthday card. Rylan and Grandpa Doyle sat down together (amongst all the noise and chaos) to read the card and count the money--a five dollar bill and five of each coin--penny, dime, nickel, and quarter. Ry was very excited and wanted to count the coins several times. He was anxious to take them off the card and get them into his piggy bank. We suggested he wait until a more quiet time, just to keep his coins safe from cousins :) Before going to bed he asked for his piggy bank so he could put his money it!



Dinner Time!

Poor Rylan, trying to wait patiently for his favorite dinner!

I asked Rylan what kind of cake he wanted. He asked for a chocolate cake with vanilla icing and pink and purple flowers on top. Hmmmmm, okay. I'm thinking the pink and purple flowers may have come up because that day we read a book 'I Love it When You Smile' and there are pink and purple flowers on the inside cover. We had a conversation about those flowers and maybe they just got stuck in his mind?! But hey, I like pink and purple flowers and I'm not against him liking them! I just didn't really want his cake to be covered in flowers so I came up with an idea. I called my mom and she offered to come help decorate the cake (which is secretly what I was hoping for :) I love my talented mom!. We (ok, she) made a construction sight with a dirt pile (oreos), a rock pile (rock jelly beans), and green grass with pink and purple flowers. It was perfect! And you wanna know something funny? When we cut into the cake every single kid asked for a piece with a flower!! Rylan was onto something with his flower idea! So after the kids got their slice of cake my mom was standing by ready to make them some flowers on their piece. What would we do without grandma? :) (Kevin took some pictures of Rylan smiling with his cake, but sadly he deleted them on accident. These pictures will have to do for evidence of an awesome birthday cake! And it tasted awesome, too! I've thought about that yummy cake in the days following. It was just a box chocolate cake with added sour cream...but it sure was yummy!)

Ry was given some super cool birthday gifts. A shovel from the Heindorffs and a butterfly net and butterfly sanctuary from grandma and grandpa Mitchell were big hits with all the kids. Kevin and I gave him this Cars couch that he asked for. I suggested we hide it in the trunk of the car but Kevin put it in the top of Asher's closet. On Saturday Rylan discovered it but kept it a secret. He later told me "I looked in Asher's closet for my piggy bank and the Cars couch was invisible"!! What a silly boy :) He asked if he could have it Saturday night but I made him wait until his actual birthday.


We also gave him a trampoline! We had thought about getting one last summer but he and Asher still seemed so young. One year doesn't really make a huge difference, but Ry was always asking to go to the neighbors to jump on their tramp. So one day I called Kev and suggested we get Ry a tramp for his birthday. No debating. It was an easy decision. (Of course we worry about injuries but we're trying to enforce our rules hoping that will help. And I keep saying both Kevin and I grew up on trampolines and loved 'em so we should let our kids enjoy it, too!)
We played 'hot and cold' with Ry so he could find it in the garage. After discovering it under boxes and such he asked if we could set it up. Well, it was after 9pm so we told him he'd have to wait, probably until Saturday. He then ran inside the house and sat back down on his Cars couch. Kevin said "We can tell he liked it because there's a small smile on his face in this picture"! This boy is so funny with showing emotion! But it's true, we knew he was excited just from that teeny tiny grin. And really, what fun is it to look at your birthday present that's still in the box? I'd want to relax on that Cars couch, too!

It was a super fun day for all of us and honestly, Rylan went to bed that night the Happiest 5 year old on Earth! I love this kid so much and I'm so happy that he loved his special day!