Owen's 5th Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Owen who turned 5 years old on March 9th!  It is truly amazing how time flies!  It seems like just yesterday that Elsie and I went out on a shopping trip to buy clothes for a new little baby boy who just got home from the hospital...

We celebrated with on his birthday by going to swim lessons after school and then having cupcakes.  We were saving the "real" cake until his party which was still 10 days away.

Gordon!

My man loves his beef jerky.

Fast forward to March 19th for Owen's Birthday Party.  Owen asked for a "Cheetah" themed party and Sarah amazingly found a way to pull it off.  :)  We rented out the neighborhood clubhouse so we'd have a little extra space and a playground for the kiddos to blow off some steam.  Owen was SO excited because all of his friends from preschool would be there, plus he had to wait 10 agonizing days since his birthday for the party to get here.

Sarah did an AMAZING job with the decorations!

 Safari Owen!

Bring on the kiddos!  From the moment they got there until the moment they left, it was a crazy blur of running, screaming, and chasing.    

We played a few games too.  This one you have to use a pool noodle like an elephant trunk to move a peanut along the ground.  

Bean bag toss

Pin the tail on the hippo

Ring toss

Simon Says

The suspense about opening his presents was just killing him.  :)

Sarah even made zebra striped cake!

The kids just kept creeping closer and closer when Owen opened his presents.  It was pretty funny.

After everyone left we opened presents from Grandma's, Grandpa's, and Great Aunt Marilyn

Our niece, Baby Maddie was there too.  She's so cute.

Owen got A LOT of train stuff...

...and legos.

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY OWEN!!!

Also, last week Elsie was on Spring Break, so she went for a week long visit to Grandma and Grandpa Casanova's house.  They did all sorts of things together like dying Easter eggs, arts and crafts, playing "puppies," walking on the trail, visiting Franklin Island, going to see a movie, etc.

Green jello for St. Patrick's Day

They even got in a game or two of whiffle ball.  :)

Here are a few more random pics since I am behind on the blogging.

Elsie brought this home from school one day.  The Geographer in me thought it was neat.  

A few weeks ago, I volunteered as a "Watch Dog Dad" at Elsie's school.  It was fun.  I got to spend the day mostly with her class and helping out around the school.  P.E. was really fun because the kids thought I was big and strong.  :)  It was SO neat to spend the day with her and get to know her classmates.

Elsie at recess

Sarah stayed home with Elsie on the first day of spring break and they came to have lunch with me at work.

Elsie even got to sit at my desk and pretend she was me.  :)

See ya!

Ryan, Sarah, Elsie, and Owen