Logan's 11th Birthday Weekend!

We wrapped up Logan's 11th birthday this weekend after celebrating three days in a row.  Since Ron had to work on Friday night and it is also much easier for family coming from other towns to travel on a weekend night, we decided to push back his family birthday party until Sunday, February 12th.  Luckily, Logan was okay with this and was happy to do a few funs things on his actual birthday on Friday and then celebrate with this two closest friends from school on Saturday.  Here is a blow by blow of his weekend of celebrating...

Friday, February 10th:

After the kids woke up, Logan was allowed to open one of his presents that had been wrapped and sitting in the living room for a few days.  He opened up his fidget pen and was super excited to take it with him to school that day.

I then made the kids our traditional, birthday breakfast of waffles with whipped cream, strawberries, and sprinkles on top.  Ella, Emmett, and I sang "Happy Birthday" to Logan before he blew out the candles and feasted on his breakfast!

Par his request, I made Logan a batch of brownies to take to school to share with his class.  Logan absolutely loves his 5th grade class and his teacher and so it has been fun to watch him happily run off to school each morning when I drop him off this year.  Having his birthday fall on a school day wasn't a disappointment at all for Logan.

Although I forgot to take a picture that evening, I treated all four kids to Chick Fil-A for dinner since Ron was supervising a basketball game at school.  We then finished off Logan's birthday evening by watching Disney's live-action, Cruella, for a family movie night.

Saturday, February 11th:

Since I am now forced to walk the mall during Ella's 3.5 hour long gymnastics practice each week (due to how cold and dark it is outside during the winter months), I was able to discover an awesome nerf gun arena that opened up during the pandemic.  Since none of Logan's friends have discovered this place yet, I thought that it would be the perfect birthday activity for Logan and his two closest school buddies, Bennett and Benton.  We picked them up Saturday afternoon and drove to Auburn so that the boys could run around like maniacs for 1 hour and 15 minutes shooting each other and total strangers, too.  They had a great time and had to be pulled out of the arena at the end of their designated time.  Here are all three boys after they first entered the shooting area after picking up their guns.

The boys had so much fun running around and hiding in the various sections of the arena.  Here is Logan hiding from the two boys at the front of a large ship.

Bennett smiling for me as he waited on a ramp.

Benton striking a hilarious pose while aiming at one of the boys.

Bennett running away from Logan after being shot by him.

The three boys standing against the massive mural on the wall in the under-the-sea section of the arena.

After leaving the nerf gun arena, I took the boys to the food court area in the mall where I served them cupcakes, ice cream, Cheetos, and root beer that I had brought from home for a birthday snack.  We even quietly sang "Happy Birthday" to Logan before he started eating his food.

All three boys eating away.

Logan was able to open up both of his gifts in the food court after finishing his snack.  Here he is opening up a Lego Minecraft set from Benton.

Three best buddies all in a row.  Logan met both of these boys in his 1st grade class and plays on the same soccer team in the fall and basketball team in the winter with both of them.  They are all such good boys and so much fun to be around.  I am so grateful that they have each other.

Sunday, February 12th:

We invited both my parents and Chris' family to join us for Logan's family birthday party on Sunday evening.  After the kids played in the sunny, but cold, back yard in the afternoon, they came in for dinner of carne asada with all of the fixings that Logan had requested.  We also had chips, deviled eggs, a fruit platter, and root beer to go with the meal which are all favorites of Logan's.

Since Percy Jackson is Logan's favorite book series of all time, I made him a Percy Jackson cake for dessert.

Since Chris and Natalee are now down to only two children, we were able to fit everyone around the kitchen and dining room tables.  The adults enjoyed eating in the peaceful and quiet environment of the dining room while all the crazy kids ate together in the kitchen.

We then went into the family room for Logan to open up his gifts.  He was definitely the most excited about this part!

I couldn't resist taking this hilarious picture of Chris while he stretched out some sore muscles from a pickle ball game the day before.  He's such a silly uncle.

Trenton sitting next to Logan while the birthday boy opened his gift.

Logan reading the card from his grandparents.

Grandma giving her 11-year old grandson a hug.

We finished off the evening with some cake and ice cream before Chris took the kids down to the basement for some hide-and-go seek while Ron and I cleaned up the kitchen.  Here is Logan waiting for the group to sing "Happy Birthday" to him before blowing out his candles.

Singing away to our birthday boy!

Logan blowing out his candles.

We sure love you, Logan!  You are such a clever, funny, and one-of-a-kind boy.  I just love the laughter that you bring into our home every day.  I love you to the moon and back!  Happy 11th Birthday!