Triple the Fun!

I cannot say enough about how much I adore this family.  I've blogged pics of my friends' triplets many times and every time we see them they are even more fun than the last.  We came to Red Deer (though Sam suggested we call it Orange Deer because that sounds better) and Stac suggested a trip to the beach.  Even though Shaun's parents live very close to Gull Lake and we recently purchased land by Gull, we've never taken Sam there... today was the day!  So a quick trip to the grocery store and dollar store and then we were on the road - two mommas, one daddy and four crazy critters!

Captured Sam and the triplets all in one shot!  YES!  This was an awesome idea that kept a pile of boys busy... a pond with a river to the lake.  Building houses along the bank.  Lots of great play time building this town.

For those of you that haven't been to Gull Lake, you can walk a km without the lake going above your knees.  I watched my little man chase a beautiful blonde quite a distance.  I realized he would probably follow her forever, I had to go chase him down... luckily this is the shallowest lake EVER.

Our long walk back together gave me the chance to remind him that Mommy is the girl that will always love him most and there is no girl that could ever possibly love him more.  Just kidding.... or not.... either way, he seemed to end knowing I'm his best girl!

Not only did I get to see the Alexanders but I also got to see another long lost friend and her boys.  These two mommas are so awesome.  Hands on, play hard, lots of love sort of moms.  And they have the best ideas... like covering as many boys as possible neck deep in sand.  AWESOME!

And this is the 5 minutes of calm that swept over Gull Lake.  :) 

This is how Sam spent most the day.  The dollar store water squirter was a major hit... soooo happy.

Thank you Orange Deer friends.  We love you soooo much and enjoy every wild moment with you.

The Joy of Love - day 11 AKA SAM's Bday Bash

11 dreams

Dreams... I think Shaun and I were successful in creating (with help from my friend Stacey) the birthday party of Sam's dreams.  It was a Sesame Street theme (Sam's a big fan) and I think it was a hit.  Sam spent most the party wondering around in a daze.  Maybe it was because there were 14 other toddlers in his house or maybe it was because he couldn't believe how awesome it was!  I think it was probably a combination of the two, but all in all it was a CRAZY fun time.
Once again, I have to give kudos to Stacey.  She did many of the small finishing touches that made it extra special.  The ideas Stacey DREAMs up are amazing... seriously I think you should start making money off your talents, Stac!
We had friends travel from a long way to spend the day with us and never in my DREAMs did I think all the people I invited would be able to make it.  My sister and her little baby even came to take in some of the fun.  I think Brielle will DREAM beautiful DREAMs of her peaceful baby girl after seeing so many wild little boys!
Shaun gave me a hard time putting up so many of the birthday party photos... I narrowed it from 150 to my favorite 52 and then down to these ones.  Less is not more in this case, MORE is MORE.  Not sure, but there might be more added... :)

The party favors.

Birthday cake... definitely did not turn out exactly like we had hoped, but Shaun and I had fun making them.  Tip: If you want BOLD colours, go with gel dye vs dye drops.

One of the 5 stations: BIG BIRD'S BOOKS (complete with elmo beanbag chair and Sesame Street books).  We also had a ME LOVES COOKIES! station that was a very simple pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey style game; ERNIE'S RUBBER DUCKY TUB (pictures of this station are in this blog); ELMO LOVES HIS CRAYON AND PLAYDOH TOO (colouring sheets that I printed off the Sesame Street website which is amazing if your kids are into SS); and finally OSCAR'S TRASH TOSS (also with pictures below).

Party brought to you by the letter S and the number 2!

More kid treat bags, so cute.

Kids get to work colouring!

P trying to use her beauty to get that balloon away from Sam... 

Nate and Matty chillin' wondering where their brother is...

Oh hey Luc!  There you are!

Mac loving a game of balloon toss.

Parker goes for the jello jiggler.

Sam a little skeptical of his jello S... didn't take long before he was loving them!

So much like brother... Sam gets distracted and Smith snags the good stuff off his plate.  Swiper!  No swiping!  Oh wait, this is a Sesame Street birthday, not Dora!

Blowing out his candle.  CAKE TIME!

Jack went for it! 

Smith takes an aggressive stance on cake consumption!

Parker being dainty.

Lincoln not too sure about this cake...

Logan LOVES cake.  

Gavin dives it!

Bennett thinks the icing is the best part.

Sam takes his time.

Too cool!

Best idea!  Created a Oscar trash can out of a large tupperware bin and tinfoil.  All the gift wrap was thrown in the 'trash' after each gift.  Fun and helpful!

Party goes under the table.  Payton, Parker, Smith, Jack and Sam played under this table for at least 15 minutes.  FYI - my super handy husband built this table and it was perfect.  Perfect height and size for the kiddos to colour, play playdoh, eat and play under.  Perfect.

This is Ernie's Tub.  I envisioned kids taking turns with the little net fishing out rubber ducks and playing with bubbles.  My vision was WAY off.  It got CRAZY!

Back in the kitchen, sweet Baby S continues to sleep.  All day.  Seriously, alllllll day.  The loudest and craziest party in my tiny house and she slept through it.  Such a good little girl.

Ok, the tub was a hit.  It got way too intense for the little girls.  Water everywhere!  Soaking wet kids.  Smith even dunked his whole head in.  These guys take their ducky fishing seriously!

Parker returns with the net to try to show them how to do it right... thanks for trying P.

Couple photos out of place... its very hard to add things if you've forgotten them on this blog.  A couple more shots of Sam's buddies!

Logan stops for a water break!

I could take pictures of Avery all day.  Pretty little face.

Jack found the perfect seat.

Sam and Payton playing playdoh.  BFFs.

An attempt at a group shot... not only were the Alexander triplets missing, but Lincoln and Logan escaped and Jack HATES the idea of a group shot.  Meh, there's always next year!

Good bye friends... thank you soooo much for all the fun.  We sure do love you guys.

And as I crawl into bed tonight, I'll think about how two years ago I couldn't have DREAMed what Sam's second birthday would be like.  It's even more wonderful than I could have imagined.

Weekend of Ball and Babies

We were invited to come play with a team in a slopitch tournament this past weekend.  After quite the ordeal to find a way to camp, we headed out to Rocky to meet our friends.  It was soooo much fun.  I don't have a pile of pictures to show for it, but that was because we were very busy all the time.  Not only did we play 6 games in two days, but we did it with 8 babes (all 2 years old and under), 4 dogs (all sorts of crazy animal antics) and a HUGE thunder storm.  


Thanks again to Mel and Stacey for inviting my family.  Though a little rusty, I had a blast playing and hope it becomes an annual event.  Can't wait to see the trouble our boys will be able to get into next year!!!

First thing the boys did once we set up the trailer, was dig in this dirt pile.  This is Sam's  friend Bennett.    Ben is one year older than Sam, so it was very important that Sam did everything the same as him.  Unfortunately the next trailer that showed up parked on the dirt pile and the game was over.

Here the boys are sitting out of the way of all the trucks and trailer driving in.

Sam love love loves camping!

Here Sam is playing clean up with Lucas (or maybe Matty, sorry Stac).  This broom and dust pan were a big hit!!!  These boys are going to be just like their daddies!