Happy 4th Birthday, Kaden!

Kaden turned four on August 11th.  I can't believe that four years have passed since I became a mom.  I may have cried when I told Kaden his birth story.  I told him all about how Daddy and Grandma Jensen were there, about how everyone proclaimed, "That's a big baby!" except me, because I still thought he was super tiny, and about how all the nurses would come in and peek at him during the day, because they had heard he was the most beautiful baby in the hospital.  It's true.  They did.  Because he was. His reaction was, "They should have said I was handsome!"

We opted to have an early family birthday party for Kade, since his Rankin cousins were in town at the start of August.  We had a combined party with Tanner, who turned three in July.  It was a Superhero themed shin-dig, with our interpretation of Superhero being pretty broad at best.  Basically, it was a low-stress, quickly-thrown-together bash that still made two boys incredibly happy.  It was a win-win.  

The two birthday boys loved the balloons, the only decoration splurge we made:

We had the party around lunch time.  We grilled hot dogs, and had an Italian soda bar (recycled from a baby shower I recently helped with for a friend).  

The kids LOVED blowing bubbles in their special drinks and eating outside on the back porch:

Kaden's one request had been to have a pinata.  I scored a free penguin pinata on a virtual yard sale site.  Since we were going with a "broad interpretation" of Superhero, we went with free.  We pinned a superman cape on the seabird, before letting the kids whack him with a baseball bat.

Kenzie helped hang the pinata:

Some of the spectators, enjoying the whacking from a safe distance:

  

It was filled with mostly "treasures" and a few candies.  The kids loved all the goods, and since there were so few party guests, everyone got at least one of everything.  

Here's Kenzie, modeling a couple of the pinata accessories:

Both boys were spoiled rotten.  I think there may be some confusion.  It looked like Christmas morning when the boys started unwrapping.  

Everett rolled around in the hallway with a balloon during most of the gift opening:

Our big gift to Kade was a collection of five Rescue Bots. He loves this show right now.  It's basically Transformers for younger kids.  He LOVES these toys, and has played with them a ton since his birthday party.  

Gigi and Poppy supplied the superhero cake.  Spiderman is Tanner's favorite, and Superman is Kaden's.  Since the bakery didn't have a Superman logo, we had to improvise:

This entire experience left me realizing this:  No four year old really cares about a Pinterest-perfected party.  All they want is cake, ice cream, and a bunch of wrapped up second hand toys to tear into.  Seriously.  Kaden LOVED his party.  I am pretty positive we're going to keep putting off "real" birthday parties for as long as possible.  

On Kaden's actual birthday, he got two surprises:

I took him to his favorite restaurant for lunch.  Considering his refined palate, we all know what that meant:

Chick-A-Lay of course.  Complete with play place.  He was in Heaven.

After we came home, we were all in for another big surprise.  My friend Jamie had mentioned she wanted to drop by with her kids to surprise him with a gift.  Imagine my surprise when three of our favorite moms and their kids showed up with balloons, cupcakes, and gifts.  It was an incredibly sweet and thoughtful gesture, and it meant the world to me.

I love this expressive bunch!  (Mark, Kade, Mia, Jack, Noah, and Liam):

  

I love everything about this photo:

Does this not look fun?  Are you not entertained?!

Everett loves Noah!  Here, Noah's teaching him to play the harmonica:

Mark gave Kaden a sleeping bag that looks like a fox when it's all rolled up (since Kaden's middle name is Fox).  Too cute!  Here's the crew, trying to all climb in:

Rachel made yummy cupcakes, complete with sprinkles!

I love all these sweet, preschool-penned messages:

I am so thankful for good friends.  Especially for good friends with awesome kids.

Happy birthday, Kaden Bug!  We love you!