The Party!

Last year, due to the small fortune we paid for Collin's birthday party, I swore we would only have a big party every other year. But, Mama has a really hard time passing up an opportunity to plan a party...especially for her favorite soon to be 4 year old! So the party was on!

Originally we had planned on having the party at the Grove City Nazarene Church Play Zone. It was the perfect venue for a bunch of sugared up crazy kids and it's cheap! Unfortunately, it was booked for months. I guess my little secret is out! On to plan B.

I started calling around and the prices for kids birthday parties are outrageous! Every party package based on 6-8 kids. I don't know if we just have a lot of kids in the family or what but we always have way more than 6-8- kids. Finally, I found the perfect place for Collin's DINOmite Birthday Party! Score one for Mama!!

We ended up at Indian Village which is a part of Columbus Parks and Recs. It is very close to our house. They run summer camps and various nature based programs for kids throughout the year. We love Indian Village! It is surrounded by wooded trails, the river and you can't forget the "CAVES"!

I was on the hunt for all things dinosaur. Here's some of what we ended up with.



Dino Gift Bags



Some of the gift bag items for our friends...Dinosaur Activity Books, Dinosaur Tattoos, Dinosaur Gliders, Stampers, Dino Suckers and Candy  and Glow sticks for our cave adventure.



I made dinosaur candies and suckers-my first experience with candy molds. Definitely a learning experience. Note to self...next time by several of each mold, not just one!



What is that you ask???

Dino and #4 Chips-Yummy and super easy to make!

After our friends arrived we all learned about fossils and made our own fossils to take home.

Then when everyone was finished we got bundled up and headed out to the caves to look for fossils.

 

Everyone had a great time on our adventure. We saw lots of fossils and even some bugs.

Then we trekked back to the lodge for some hot chocolate, cake and a little more play time.

This is pretty much what Collin did for the entire party. He and Austin ran in circles around the tables non stop. Last summer on vacation Collin didn't really want anything to do with Austin but now they are "best friends" and had a blast! It's kind of hard to explain to a 4 year old that he should really play with all of his guests but I think everyone had fun.


Finally, it was time for presents! It was so funny to watch all of the kids crowd around. I had to keep moving Collin back up to the chair because he kept scooting away and the swarm of kids just followed.

At one point he was under a table trying to open his presents.
 

I think Collin really enjoyed his party and I hope he did because by the end of the night he would end up with a fever of 104.  Poor little guy!

Collin is 4!

In our family it seems that birthdays go on and on. For the BIG 4th BIRTHDAY we had lots of fun planned! On the actual day  we told Collin he could go to breakfast anywhere he wanted. Of course he picked...Waffle House! He loves Waffle House, me, not so much.

We were invited to Ella's Baptism so we went to Amy and Ems house for a little celebration. Collin and Ella are just getting to know each other but I'm sure they are going to be very good friends!

Everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to Collin and he got to make a wish and blow out his candles.

I have to wonder what a 4 year old wishes for, if anything? He seems to understand the concept but I have no idea what he might wish for in that young interesting mind of his.

We had intended on taking him to his favorite Chuck E Cheese to celebrate that evening but everyone was tired so we decided to hang out at home instead. Noni and Pop came over and we had pizza, opened gifts and Collin got his special cake from Mama.




Putting his new stethoscope and magnifying glass to work making sure the dart board is okay.




And his new remote control truck!



This year was Tow Mater from the movie Cars, one of his favorites. I saw the idea online and thought I had to try it. It didn't quite turn out like the picture but it was fairly close. I spent a fortune on all the items needed to decorate Mater and I think he ate about 4 bites. But, it was cute and I think he liked it. I think next year will change the tradition and let Collin decorate his own cake.

The next night we went to Chuck E Cheese and Collin played his favorite game "Dino Dash" aka Running Dinosaur. It is amazing how much he has improved as far as his coordination. He also played other games instead of just playing that one game for hours on end.

We had to push his actual birthday party back to the next weekend so the party continued!

Timing

Last night Wyatt asked me where I wanted to go to dinner for our anniversary. Sadly, I didn't even realize that Monday it will be March 1st. Wow! Where did the time go and where is my brain lately? I guess I've been caught up with all the adoption stuff, money,work, home, trying to be a good mom and a good wife. I'm doing an okay job at all of them but not a great job at any of them. Anyway, the date made me start thinking.

We had expected to have a referral by now. Our coordinator was pushing and pushing us to get things done, making us think we would have been there and back by now. Yet, here we are, no referral. On top of that our agency is encountering some "drama" which I have been assured will not effect our adoption but I know better than to completely believe what the agency tells us.

Adoption is not something you can control or plan-kind of like life-and kind of like Collin's adoption...which also made me think. We encountered a bump like this in Collin's adoption and we made it through and look where we are now. Actually, we encountered many more bumps, yet he is here with us and although I still remember it vividly the sting is gone and it is ancient history. Probably because I get to see his sweet little face every morning and get to hear him say "Mama, I love you" and my day is automatically brighter.The memories of that miserable yet incredible journey no longer haunt me, rather it is "The Story of Collin". Because of him, I also know that the right child will come to us in the right time, just like he did. All we can do is roll with it and know that eventually it will all work out how it is supposed to.

As much as I would have loved to have had a stress free and drama free experience this time it appears that is not the case. Although I think it is much easier for me the second time around. The hard part is that we have Collin and he is expecting to get on an airplane and go get this baby brother we have been talking about for so long. How do you explain all this to a four year old? We want him to be prepared for a sibling but how do you explain to a child something you don't even understand? I just know when it is finally time to go he is going to be one super excited little boy! And we will be right there with him!

I keep trying to find positive in the longer than expected wait. Like, we have more time to save money, we will have more vacation time, more time to prepare. Although, there isn't much preparing going on! It also dawned on me that when we adopted Collin we got his referral right after our anniversary-March 9th to be exact. How cool would that be to get his little brother's referral on the same date 4 years later??? Pretty cool...I won't hold my breath BUT I will keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best!

Que sera,sera!