more birthday fun

Miller's 5th birthday weekend was the final stop on the celebration tour. For almost a year, these buds have been scheming for a spend the night adventure. We kept putting Miller off and telling him he had to be five years old to have a friend over to spend the night. It's amazing how your kids listen and remember these promises when the time comes. For Miller's actual birthday we invited Grant for a night out and spend the night party back at our house. The boys and Eliza Kate had a fun time spending their tokens and redeeming tickets all afternoon at Chuck E Cheeses. They could barely touch the accelerator pedals on the racecars which cracked us all up! Laying down in the seat and stretching for the pedal while handing on to the steering wheel for dear life seemed to be the winning strategy.

Monkey see, Monkey do. Eliza Kate wanted to sit and "drive" like the big boys!

One thing's for sure about these boys...They love to compete at everything. When I say everything, I'm including seat belt buckling in the car. Whoever clicks the belt first makes a big announcement. Today's competition involved who won the most tickets after each game. They've gotten pretty good at egging each other on about who's going to win each little competition;) Boys!

We went to eat at Los Bravos restaurant (a favorite of Grant's) & then had present time back at the house. Grant was so sweet to bring a gift over.

 Can you handle the cutest of a bro hug? Grant drew Miller a birthday picture inside the card and it inspired an impromptu neck squeeze. What a surprise to open up a Razor scooter! Now that was quite a birthday present.

Miller opened a little happy from us too....The Toy Story 3D Wii game. It didn't take too long for the boys to try it out in action. I thought the glassss looked presh as they participated in a pie throwing contest. They launched pies at Woody and Buzz' moving targets.  

It didn't hold their interest for too long. But, Landon sure did like trying his Wii hand at the pie throwing game.

They did enjoy the pop out 3D effect. But, it was back to Mario Kart race cars on Wii for these two before long. Hide and seek, racing cars from CARS 2 around the couch, and lots of snacking entertained them for the rest of the evening. The best part of this spend the night rite of passage for Miller and Grant is that he lives across the street. Any ounce of homesickness or missing a favorite item can be solved quickly. At this age, you just never know if they'll sleep through the whole night.

After a splashing good time in the bath (yes, these two requested fun in the tub), They shared their first teeth brushing experience.

They made sure to brush their tongues. Fresh breath is a must at a spend the night party.

Miller was excited to slide the trundle out from under his bed for this  sleepover occasion. We made it up with Cars sheets for our guest. Although, Grant decided he would rather sleep up above on Miller's twin. Miller was thrilled about sleeping lower to the ground.

Before lights out, these two had fun reading to each other and hopping once or twice to the mattress below. Our only hiccup before bed was Grant missing his special blanket after seeing Miller's prized minky dot friend from his babyhood. Carter, G's brother ran over a blanket for Grant to use. Turns out, Grant doesn't have an attachment to anything at bedtime, but wanted to be just like his spend the night buddy. What a hoot!  It wasn't long after that these boys lost the stay awake battle and fell fast asleep cuddling their special blankies close by:)
The big 5 has already afforded Miller a brand new privilege and we're excited for other new growing up adventures this year. Happy Birthday Miller man!