Grady's 8th Birthday Party - January 2012 (Part 2)

Yes, I can still hold him!  I almost died after I had put him down, about 2 seconds after this picture was taken just a few days ago.  Whew.  But, I can still hold him, dadgummit.  ;)

Grady is so easy as far as parties go.  He is all about simple...hates to make a big fuss or have a big fuss made over him.  Likes it small and intimate with only his close friends.  He started thinking about it weeks before...what he wanted to do.  HE planned it all out in detail...I didn't have to plan a thing, just help him carry out his plan.  Gosh, I welcomed that.  ;)  Loved it.  He finally settled on a Nerf party and a great party it was.  Our friends who were visiting even commented that it was the most laid-back kid's party they'd ever been to.  ;)  That's our boy. 

Grady requested a hot dog lunch to start out the festivities.

Friend Seth (his parents are missionaries with Asas too...they were visiting from Manaus, a base in the Amazon) and Cass.

Grady, Cullen, Luis Felipe, and Hadley.

Friends.

NERF!!  Fun fun times.

Time to open presents.

I love this one.  He and his friend, Nathan, had a blast while he was here.

Hadley's present for Grady...she made him a light saber.  ;)  So so sweet.

He liked it.  :)

I got video of this, but this is the only picture I got apparently.  They went out to the 'jungle' behind our house and had a Nerf battle with Joel as their guide...capture the flag type stuff.  They had lots of fun.

Best buds and neighbors.

After the Nerf battle, everyone watched some Star Wars:  The Clone Wars episodes per Grady's plan...his new favorite thing to watch.

And then it was cake time.

Praying for the birthday boy.

"Happy Birthday to You!"

He's a fun boy.  :)

Our brother/sister friends, Nate and Dani, were visiting from Alaska and Ohio.  And Carol, our babysitter, and her boyfriend (at the time...husband now) also came to celebrate Grady.

Love this guy!  Happy birthday, big boy.  So thankful we are blessed with you as our firstborn.

Grady's 8th Birthday Party - January 2012 (Part 1)

This super handsome boy was 8 years old on January 3rd.  That was on a Tuesday, so we just had a special breakfast and special supper and outing with him that day, party to follow.  It was fun celebrating our sweet, thoughtful, funny, spectacular son.

Birthday breakfast...chocolate pancakes as requested.

The birthday boy...love him!

Pensive birthday boy.  ;)

Content birthday boy.  ;)

"Mama, stop taking pictures" birthday boy.  Haha.

The kiddos..."Where are we going for supper?"

His special birthday dinner.

Even ice cream.

Daddy being silly with the ice cream.  :)

Grady enjoying the show.

There was another surprise after the birthday dinner...the carnival!!

They were pretty excited.

Waiting, dreaming, and planning their ride strategy.

Little Miss Priss.

Finally on a ride.  BUMPER CARS!

My driver.

So much fun was had on the bumper cars!

Time for the carousel.

The whole fam.

Can you see Cass?  ;)

We have some fun and silly people in our family.  :)

Living in Brazil, life is a little less regulated, i.e. standing up on the horse. 

Some relaxation.

Of course she has to do it too...a little hard to get her shorter legs up there though.  ;)

Persistence.  ;)

Hadley was super excited to ride this and hopped in a car by herself.  Grady was hesitant...so was Joel.  They rode together.

It went super fast and turned up on its side...kind of like a ferris wheel going 100mph.  ;)

Hadley was just a'hootin' and a'hollerin' and laughing the whole time.  She's such a little daredevil.

Then it was off to a game.

Cass...haha.

And then the scary ferris wheel...scary for me anyway.  ;)  It was like a combination ferris wheel/tilt-o-whirl actually...you could spin yourself.  Aaaaaah!  Haha.

The kids loved it.

No seat belts, no restraints of any kind...and it went fast and high, and spun fast.  Haha...gotta love Brazil.

Look at my death grip.  Hahaha.  The kids are all laughs.  I was laughing too...nervous laughter.  :)

The kids had a ball playing with each other on that ride.

Look at their hair...it was pretty fast.  :)

And the last ride of the night...the worm.

The worm was fun.  ;)

Wheee!

And this is the carnival director...he's been traveling with carnivals for over 60 years!

Grady's birthday was a really fun day.  About a week later we had a party with some of his friends.  I'll post about that next time.  So glad you had a fun 8th birthday, Grady Lester.  We love you!