What a Week!!

It's July!!  Hard to believe summer is just cruising by.  I know next time I check out Target, I'll be bombarded by the back-to-school aisles already up & filled with supplies.  (I shudder at the thought right now)  so back to fun thoughts, like this past week.  We celebrated 2 birthdays & the 4th of July, so 3 birthdays "officially" I guess, but it was good times, good food & LOTS of good pictures, so brace yourself!!  

We started the week with Sam's 3rd birthday, with...you guessed it, a Batman theme!  Sam dressed like Batman for Halloween last year, then had his eye on a couple Batman toys that he talked about CONSTANTLY, so with the new movie coming out in a couple weeks, we went a little  bat crazy!!  The kindergarten teacher in me, from my former life before children, still lives in that I carry themes out to the fullest extent.  A new Party City just opened up here in town, and I found sooooo much to make the party fun & festive!!  And low & behold, Gap is carrying a line of Junk Food tees, with the PERFECT Batman t-shirt for Sam to wear on his big day, & coordinating Batman emblem tees, for Annie & Jack.  Don't you love it when things come together without having to try too hard???

Greeting guests at the door...

My Super Sam...aka Batman!  Is this t-shirt too cute for him to wear on his birthday??

Annie & Jack's came in the PERFECT colors for them too!

Couldn't resist getting the masks after envisioning this group shot...of course, in my mind Sam would have been wearing his mask too, but he was showing off his Terrible 3's independence/attitude ALREADY!!  Oh well...it's his party & he'll pout if he wants to.

Yeah!!!  A Smile...and I didn't even have to beg too much for this pose.

And the gift he had been waiting WEEKS to get after spying it in a Fisher Price catalog...he's played hours & hours with it!

Moving on to birthday #2...

I turned 36 Tuesday, and we had a wonderful family day of being together & eating out for lunch & dinner...what a treat!!  I told the kids I thought I needed a huge cake with roses all over, and this is what I was surprised with!!  Even better than the edible version...so sweet & so creative,( I thought) of them to visualize & make it for me!  

I was spoiled with many great gifts...a couple new outfits, some fun new bath scents from my favorite brand Philosophy, and a gift certificate for a pedicure just to name a few.  A wonderful day topped off with a delicious dinner...Mexican food at Mamacita's!  Yum!

A strawberry margarita toast to birthdays!!

I knew Annie had something up her sleeve with all the whispering she & Daddy were doing...

Ole!!  37, here I come!!

What better way to celebrate the 4th of July than to watch a parade!  We decided to do something different & looked around for events in the area, then surprised the kids with a trip to Comfort, Texas and their great, all American 4th of July parade & festivities.  The weather was so nice & it was fun to go on a new adventure.  XM radio had a special station for the day called "Uncle Sam" which played any patriotic, American song you can think of.  It was so cool & we kept it on the whole trip.  

Hopefully we didn't stick out like a sore thumb not being "locals"...but my picture & video taking, probably gave us away!

Can't do 4th of July, in our house anyway, without those $5 Old Navy t-shirts!  This year, we waited until 2 weeks before to go looking, and the stores were practically sold out...so we had to get what we could online & pay for shipping, but still worth it!  Did I mention I like carrying out themes???  

Let's have a parade!!!   

The kids were in heaven...

Motorcycles, police cars, and a street load full of fire trucks & horses...

This gave me chills...so glad our family, and our children especially, had a chance to see and honor what this day was all about!

Norman Rockwell couldn't have made a more perfect parade...so awesome!

We grabbed lunch at Rudy's BBQ on the way home, because we had to have some good 'ol American food, let Sam nap while we played the kids on the Wii, then packed up a picnic for some mall parking lot tailgating while we waited for the fireworks at Six Flags.  The kids really got into it with handmade flags & face painting and sat and waited...

Have snacks, will travel...

And finally...what we'd been waiting for!

A great way to end a wonderful week!  

I'd love to hear how your family celebrates the 4th of July!