Carter Turns Five!

Shoot! I just realized I forgot to write about Carter's 5th birthday! So here's another post.

The first celebratory thing we did was go out to a restaurant with Daniel's parents about a week before (because they were going out of town). Carter asked to go to an Italian restaurant so he could have "vinegar bread," so I found a local place that turned out to be pretty underwhelming. Still, it was worth it for how much Carter enjoyed it—especially the bread and vinegar.

Then we had a park party on the Saturday before Carter's actual birthday. We invited all of his preschool friends and church friends for a race-car-themed shindig.

First the kids got some candy-filled race cars that also actually drove forward if you pulled them back first (you know the kind). So we tried to do races. It all worked a lot better in my head than it did in real life. It quickly became clear that taking turns to do a tournament (like I had originally planned) was not going to happen, so the kids just had a free-for-all. Oh well! I think they still enjoyed it.

Then we had a "car wash." 

Okay, so this whole thing would have been way more awesome if we could have had the party in our backyard, because then we could have drilled holes into the pipes and attached the hose to it so that water continually squirted down. Alas, our backyard is WAY too small, so we had to improvise and make do at the park. We brought squirt bottles and a bunch of those water bottles with the squirt tops instead, and the kids got to squirt each other as they ran through. Oh, there was also silly string (which I got nowhere near enough of, by the way) for "soap." 

Here's Aubrey going through with her friend Makaela:

I think the kids had fun with it, even if it was kind of ghetto. I mean, I never overheard anyone saying, "This is lame!" or saw anyone unwilling to participate. So we're going with everyone having had a good time. Yes? Yes.

I didn't get a video of Carter going through, unfortunately. I'm not sure why not... Oh well.

After the car wash, we ate pizza. Nom.

And then we opened presents. Carter got a lot of vehicle-themed gifts, which was right up his alley. I love his facial expressions.

After presents, we did a blue race car piñata. There were so many near accidents that I can't believe no one got hurt. Here you can see my friend pulling Clara out of the way for me as Aubrey swings. Oof.

Speaking of Clara, her turn with the piñata was rather entertaining (again, my friend was a big help so I could film stuff)...

And here's the birthday boy's final turn after everyone else had gone:

After the candy rush, it was time for more sugar. Only this time it came in the form of cake. I don't remember what flavor it was (probably chocolate), but here it is:

A professional cake decorator I am not. But Carter loved it, so that's all that matters. And it DID taste good! I even made my own marshmallow fondant for the first time!

It was pretty windy that day, so we had to use a cardboard box to block the wind so the candles would stay lit while we sang. It worked, and Carter got to blow them out.

The cake was enjoyed, and then it was time for goodbyes and cleanup. It was during this time that this happened with Clara... not sure what is happening here. 

Anyway, back to the birthday boy. On his actual day of birth, we did the usual—shape pancakes in the color of his choice...

... present unwrapping and assembling...

... and playing with all the new toys. I love that you can see Carter's mouth making truck sounds as he plays here:

And here's the racing toy in action after Daddy finished putting it together:

Unlike other birthdays, however, we had a bit of a scheduling conflict for this one. Aubrey, who was doing a tap/hip-hop class at the time, had a dance recital that afternoon/evening. She had to be there early for rehearsals and stuff, so Carter and I dropped her off (while Daniel stayed home with a napping Clara) and went to get some birthday ice cream before the performance.

Carter chose chocolate ice cream with gummy bears mixed in. It apparently wasn't the best combo. That didn't stop him from eating it though...

And here we are together! A little mommy/son date. 😁

After ice cream, we went and watched Aubrey dance. Carter got bored pretty quickly, but he enjoyed watching Aubrey when she got out there.

And here they were afterward.

And that was it! I'm sure we had meatballs and spaghetti (Carter's favorite food) for dinner that night, but the photos I have end here. Happy (super late) birthday, Carter man!