Happy Birthday Jens!

I'll come back and do our Alpine post later but I first had to get my little guy's birthday posted.  Jens turned 2 on July 19th!  This is a picture of him when he was a week old, isn't he the cutest!

 And this is him now, my how time has flown!

Daddy was gone on a work trip the week of Jens's birthday so on his special day just Jens, Sophie, and I celebrated.  First up on the agenda was Chocolate Chip Sprinkle Mickey Mouse Pancakes

 Followed up with his present from Sophie, we decided Jens could open up one and then save the rest of his presents for when Daddy came home.

 Jens current obsession is all things transportation: cars, trucks, trains, bikes, etc anything mobile he likes.  This carries over into his fashion sense- the only shirts he will wear are any with a transportation icon on them.  So he LOVED the present Sophie gave to him, a set of 10 race cars from the Cars 2 movie. :)

After Breakfast we packed up the car and headed for the zoo for the day with some of our friends and spent the day saying hi to the animals, riding the train and merry-go-round, and eating ice cream.  When we got home later that night the kids and i got into our pj's ordered a pizza and popped in a movie.  I didn't take any pictures at the zoo and at home out of sure laziness so forgive me.

The next day Daddy came home around lunchtime and he had a surprise for Jens in his luggage!

 Both the kids loved Daddy's present and I like that we finally have something other than a sandbox for the kids to play with in the yard.  After the kids had enough exercise we went back in and gave him one of his other presents- a puzzle set.  There is one more present for Jens, a B-I-K-E but don't tell him we haven't had a chance to go out with him to get it but he's been asking for HIS bike for months now so he can ride with his big sister and mama.

We were happy to have Daddy home and spent rest of the day playing together and getting some yard work done around the yard.  The next morning Kelly and Leah drove down with their girls and we headed off for more birthday fun at Cowabunga water park, once again i didn't take any pictures so we'll just jump on down to the finale Jens's and Kayci's combined birthday party.  The two cousins are just 2 weeks apart so Leah and I decided it'd be fun to do one big family party together.  We decided to throw a surf party for the kiddos and it was lots of fun, thanks for everyone that could come out and party with us!

The invite made once again by our awesome sister-in-law Tricia :)

The decorations:  i made some tissue pom-poms and combined those with paper bag flowers i had already in my decor pile.  Then with the help of Kelly also made the car garland hanging on the fence

 Cory made these awesome surfboards for me with wood we had lying around and then Kelly painted them with left over paint i had in our workshop.

 Shark cupcakes made by Leah

 shark gummies :)

 The present bench- i repainted the bench a week before and then made the pillows :)

 the kids table

 the pinata

the favors: each sand pail had a divestick, bubbles, beach ball, water gun, and a ring pop.

 the kids painted woody surf wagons made once again by my amazing handy husband!  Love a guy that knows his tools!

And what's a beach party without water!  We set up a bunch of water toys and water balloons and let the kids run wild.

 some needed a little protection from Grammy

 Pinata time! Kayci went first

 then Jens

 All the kids had a swing but it was finally busted open by Leah's brother Chandler

And here is this year's cake I made:

 A friend of ours, who is also a pro-photographer, suggested taking a picture of us with our kids and their cakes each year to have a fun way to look back at our kids as they grow older so here is the one from last year's pirate party when he turned 1:

And this year's photo of us and Mr. Jens :)

 After cake the cousins opened their presents, i got this one of the 2 of them before the un-wrapping began aren't they sweet? :)

 Thanks Leah for helping make this an amazing party for our little ones!

Jens, we love you soo much!  From your cuddles and gigantic hugs you always give to that mischievous smile you do when you're about to do something naughty you already know how to wiggle your way out of trouble. :)  Thanks for being both mami's and daddy's little helper, hope you continue to do that for the rest of your life.  You love your big sister Sophie and love to follow her around and most of the time put up with her being the little mother to you and making you play dress-up and dolls (sorry daddy).  You always fall asleep holding a book instead of a stuff animal and eat like the bottomless pit- just like daddy.  You're Mr. Independent and the biggest dare devil we know, climbing on everything and running and jumping into the deep-end of pools whether mami or daddy are there!  Thanks for all the joy, craziness, and laughter you bring to our family!