Asher is 6!

There is no question that Asher is an introvert, but everyone loves to feel special and loved on their birthday, right? So it was funny to see how he handled all the extra attention on Tuesday. He stood in front of his kindergarten class and grinned while they sang to him, but he wouldn't look any of them in the eye. When his taekwondo teacher (who didn't know it was his birthday) coincidentally asked him that afternoon how old he was, he answered "Six" without giving her any clues. And when Tyson was telling random strangers in Target that today was his brother's birthday, Asher did his best to act like he didn't know that kid.

But we love Asher like crazy, and were happy to give him all kinds of special attention. He requested waffles for his birthday dinner. (He requested at least 6 other meals before that, but a couple of days before I finally told him that he couldn't change his mind any more, since I'd bought the buttermilk, fruit, and whipped cream.) After eating cupcakes, opening gifts, and playing games, the birthday boy had had enough. In what was probably a first for any of our kids, he cuddled up on Dad's lap and told Scot that he was tired and ready to go to bed.

Some things I want to remember about 5-year-old Asher:

He's such a sweetheart. If a sibling is having a bad day Asher will give them a toy or book of his to put a smile on their face. If someone isn't feeling well, he's so thoughtful and attentive to their needs. He loves his grandparents and gets especially attached to his Grandmas when they're around. And he's still the best cuddler of my three.

He is a smartie. His Primary teachers last year would often tell me that if no one in the class was answering a question, they'd turn to Asher. He would rarely volunteer it, but they could count on him always knowing the right answer, if they asked. He's so far ahead of the rest of his kindergarten class in reading that he meets a few times a week with the school's reading specialist and a group of first-and second-graders. He's in the highest math group in class, and instead of memorizing sight words with the rest of the class, his teacher gives him a list of 15-20 "challenge words" to spell each month.

He's never been much of an animal person, but he immediately bonded with the tortoise that joined our family in November. Asher calls him "Little Guy" and hurries back to say hello to him as soon as he gets home from school.

He likes building things and following a plan. Give him any sort of building toy (Legos and Zoobs are current favorites) and an instruction guide, and he's content to play alone for hours.

He and Tyson have all kinds of goofy fun together. When they're getting along there is plenty of giggling, silliness, and mischief. And Asher adores his big sister. The two are great at hatching plots, making plans, and solving mysteries together.

And Asher gives me the most enthusiastic running tackle-hugs every day when I pick him up from school.

Adventure Day: Lollipop Park

We were able to share our seventh adventure day of the summer with cousins. My sister, Jess, and her kids met us at an indoor amusement park called Lollipop Park. It was a fun little place, and I was impressed with how clean it was. Our kids could ride all the rides without a parent, and the place was just their speed.

The teacups were the favorite of most of the kids. Asher didn't appreciate how fast Riley and Brady wanted to spin the cups, so he would only ride that one if he could be in a cup alone. Brooke and Tyson didn't mind the spinning one bit.

Another favorite ride were the swings. The kids definitely got a kick out of riding in a row together, and completely ignored the operator's instructions to not hold on to other kids' swings. And I just can't post this video without sharing a story that's not even my own.

When we were kids, our town held (well, I'm sure they still do) a big celebration every summer. There was a rodeo, a parade, an antique car show, and I'm sure many other events that I've forgotten. But the highlight of the whole thing was the carnival. It was the stereotypical carnival with food trucks, carnies, and rides of questionable safety, all set up in our familiar Downtown Park. One of our favorites was a ride like this one, called the YoYo. It rose high above most of the other rides as it spun in circles. Centrifugal force lifted the swings out, until you felt like your body was almost parallel to the ground. On one memorable occasion, centrifugal force also cause the boy seated in front of Jess to throw up, and she ended up spinning right into his floating vomit. It's one of the grossest stories that comes up when we're reminiscing about our childhood. 

Fortunately all the kids at Lollipop Park kept their lunch down.

The Whip was fun for the kids at first, but went on a little too long, as you can tell by their expressions.

Cousin Chaos

My mom had shirts made for her 13 grandkids. Each family in a different color, and each kid's printed with their birth order. Riley is 3, Asher 5, and Tyson 8. You can't imagine the chaos of getting 4 kids, 5 preschoolers, and toddler, and three babies to sit still and look in the same direction long enough to get one decent photo. Unless you are crazy enough to have attempted something similar yourself. In that case, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

We got some really cute photos last reunion, and I think my expectations were a little high this time. Oh well, the kids liked their shirts, and we have photo documentation of what the reality of 13 young children in the same cabin was like.

It took much less time to get some good photos of the ladies in the family.

Fun & Games

There were a few planned activities for the kids to fill some of the downtime. My mom did a "treasure hunt" for the kids that we happened to do on Asher's half-birthday. Jess pointed it out while the kids were eating their last treasure: pudding cups. We all sang "Happy Half-Birthday" to him, and he thought it was the greatest thing ever. In fact, he just asked me today, "Mom, remember when Grandma brought pudding on my half-birthday? That was fun."

Jess did a music time for the little ones. At eight-and-a-half, Cole is the oldest grandkid in the group. He was definitely too old for the songs, but he was a good sport and helped some of the little ones. The kids had a great time rolling down the grassy hill, playing ring-around-the-rosies, and pretending they were airplanes. But it's no surprise that the best photos were taken during Tootie-Ta.

I brought supplies for a cheese-ball toss. I paired all the kids up, bigs with littles, then gave one person on each team a shower cap to wear, topped it with shaving cream, and then gave their teammate a pile of cheese-ball snacks. Technically it was supposed to be timed, and the team with the most cheese-ball on the cap won. We, however, had teams with "tossers" who were more interested in eating the snacks than throwing them, and a fairly hefty disparity in ages and abilities. So we just let them play until they were bored, or until they wanted to stop to eat cheese-balls.

Waye Cousins

All the cousins (for now) on Scot's side of the family: Camden is holding Beckham, Cody, Landon, Carly, Tyson, Caleb, Asher, Riley, and Parker.

 And one of our kids with their grandparents.

And my favorite outtake from the bunch is currently the wallpaper on my desktop.

Water Fun

With all her grandkids in town at the same time, Scot's mom was determined that they have a fun time. And how do you inexpensively entertain a group of 10 kids, from 11-year-old to a few months, in Albuquerque, during July? If you didn't answer "a slip & slide" you must have had a sad childhood.

These kids, on the other hand, had a ball!

Oh, and so did their Dad/Uncle Scot!

El Rancho de las Golondrinas

We spent a few hours on Friday at El Rancho de las Golondrinas, a living history museum near Santa Fe. It was once a prosperous ranch and an important stopping place on the Camino Real, and dates back to the early 1700's. Now they have volunteers dressed in styles of the time teach about the daily living of the Spanish settlers. Thanks to Aunt Tami for discovering this place. Even the three family members who grew up in New Mexico had never heard of it. As Scot said to his sisters, "How did we never come on a field trip here?" 

The kids were able to card wool from sheep that are raised on the Rancho, see how the looms worked, and grind corn.

We were given a tour of the kitchen and were able to see the ovens.

We learned how the wool yarn was dyed, how hides were tanned, and how they made molasses.

Scot, Granddaddy, and Uncle Paul all served missions in South and Central America, where women still do laundry on washboards in streams and metal basins. They were happy to demonstrate the process for the kids.

The two engineers in our group were more interested in the water wheel and mill house than anything else there.

The kids played along in the schoolhouse as Scot read the school rules. Boys and girls were not allowed to play with each other, the kids were not allowed to give each other nicknames, and they were expected to stand and bow to guests and strangers. All were punished with lashes.

The kids were alternately fascinated by and afraid of the large goats on the property. Tyson and Carly were walking quickly away from two in the pen behind them.

We had such a fun time there and look forward to going back sometime when they're doing a weekend festival, such as ¡Viva Mexico! or Fiesta de los Niños.

Devoted Sister

While looking for a missing library book this morning, I rescued this note from under the couch.

Again, for those of you who are out of practice reading kindergarten handwriting/spelling:

"from Riley To Asher

You are awesome & smart

& a genius & good & a perfect brother

& I love you."

Say it with me now. Awwww!

Riley is Six!

This year Riley celebrated her birthday the day before and then again the day after her actual birthday. We went to lunch the day before her birthday with Grandma, Jess and Cory, and their kids, and then spent the afternoon at the zoo.

 Jess made the event exciting with birthday hats and fancy cupcakes.

Two days later, Riley celebrated her birthday with some friends with a Fancy Nancy party.

The girls colored, made jewelry, ate a fancy lunch, including parfaits ("That's French for ice cream sundaes."), dressed up in fancy clothes and had a fashion show. The girls were all adorable, and on their best fancy behavior.

Happy birthday to our six-year-old! And now you can stop growing up.