Colby's Birthday Weekend!!

So Colby's birthday falls on Monday this year. He's never had a "Monday" birthday so we celebrated this weekend and the celebration will continue through Monday. Anyway so this year for Colby's b-day he decided to have a best friend sleepover instead of a party. I was happy to oblige this b/c we had looked into a party at Sector 6 and it was so much $$$. Plus it was WAYY less stress. So we planned this to happen the Friday before his b-day. The boys both were at separate camps so Nijel's mom Melody brought Nijel over about 5:30 Friday evening. Both boys were extremely excited to see one another. They really haven't had many playdates this summer. They have only played together a couple times and seen each other at a b-day party and at church. They were so excited to catch up it was hard to even get their focus to eat pizza. Once we finally rounded them up they seemed to enjoy eating. After pizza we took them outside for an ultimate battle of water balloons and silly string. It was so much fun! We all got involved! Even mom!! We had a great time. The fun lasted about 30 minutes then it took about 30 minutes to clean up the fun. The boys enjoyed riding their bikes around during that time. They continued to play outside for awhile then we sang Happy Birthday and did cake. Again they ate their cake outside and played for awhile longer. Once they were ready to come in we let Lindsay take a bath in our bathroom and Austin hosed them off outside so no one had to come in and worry about taking baths/showers. They then got changed into pjs. We had told them they could play on the iPad and Wii after this. It was quite a treat for our kids b/c we don't let them do that stuff very often. The kids had a blast and we let them stay up playing until 10. At 10 we could tell they were all very tired and of course so we were we so we told them to brush their teeth and lights out. We told the boys they could stay up and talk as long as they didn't wake us up or Lindsay. Sure enough we went to bed at 10:45 and they were still up talking. They said they fell asleep sometime after midnight. 
The next morning we got up and fixed the boys a big breakfast. We had bacon, eggs, and grits. We made sure to fill them up on protein before heading off to the Sector 6. We had jumping tickets for 10:30-12. Everyone had a blast! I even jumped this year. It was so fun! I think we were all worn out by 12. We lastly stopped and ate at Applebees before bringing Nijel back home. I think the boys really had a great time. I am so thankful for their continued friendship. They get along so well. The entire time he was here I never heard a cross word between them and they played so well. I think its the other friend that brings drama to the group. That afternoon we were all ready to rest and just relax. 
Sunday was also a busy day. We of course had church. Austin also had to count which meant the kids and I left after first service and came on home to rest and get ready for our upcoming trip. That afternoon we relaxed and worked on our packing. That evening we met my parents and brother and sister in law at Olive Branch for a family dinner. Since the last 2 years Colby hasn't had a big party its become tradition to celebrate with my family on the Sunday. He had wanted us to cook chicken alfredo and have everyone over but with Austin having to count and us planning to leave town the next day it just seemed like a lot. We figured meeting up with everyone was better then we went back to my parent's house for cake. It was a fun and late evening. We ended up staying out until 9! We were all just having such a good time. We haven't been around Randall and Elizabeth much really since Easter I guess. With all their trips and working they missed Memorial Day and July 4th with us so this was really our first time to catch up in awhile. 
Monday was Colby's 9th birthday. We had planned and wanted to bring him to the Cool Zoo that morning to celebrate. We woke up though to ominous clouds and thunderstorms around so were concerned we would get all the way out there and get rained out. Plus he was really wanting to play with his Legos. We ended up having a stay home morning which I think worked out for the best. It gave Austin and I time to clean up around the house and get organized for our trip while Colby got to enjoy his b-day gifts. It ended up being a win win.