Five Years Old!

Amazingly enough, we now have a five year old.  It seems like only yesterday we were bringing Fisher home from the hospital on Christmas day. 

We spent his big day in Reno.

That morning he was introduced to the art of falconry with Grandpa and Daddy.  They took him out with Yonder (dog) and Suka (Falcon) so that Suka could fly and catch some duck.

She ended up catching a Coot instead.  My Dad looks down on coot- apparently they are not as exciting to catch- but we still thought it was cool.  Fisher thought the dead bird was very exciting.

So proud of his bloody feather.

Those gloves were washed many times over the week.

On their way home from flying Suka, the boys took Fisher to a donut store where he was able to choose two donuts of his own choice.

Mommy helped him eat them.

(Daddy and Grandma helped with a bite or two behind Fisher's back as well.)

Then came time for presents.

He loved his Leapster Explorer.

I was so proud of myself for saving these costumes.  I had bought them on clearance after Halloween and actually held out for two months without giving them to Fisher.  That is huge for me.  Normally they would have been used as bribery within days of purchasing.

Then Grandpa took Fisher Batman down to the garage for some balloons including the famous giant one that has become a tradition for any of the kids celebrating birthdays while in Reno.  My dad uses the huge balloons to train his birds to fly.

After Fisher came in we skyped with G & G Church so they could say happy birthday to the birthday boy.

Cooper quickly confiscated the balloons.

It was a nice relaxing birthday with our little family, G & G Lund and Great Grandma.

But Fisher did not mind because he was preoccupied with his video game.

So Cooper played away with the balloons.

 We decided to take Fisher bowling for the first time.  Great Grandma stayed home (she is in the process of recovering from a hip replacement) so the rest of us headed out to Coconut Bowl. 

Fisher did pretty well.  He did become frustrated a few times but all in all he seemed to have a good time. 

He loved the dark and his glowing clothes.

Near the end we used the ramp provided for little kids more than in the beginning. 

One thing we learned is that bowling with bumpers makes the experience more fun for everyone. :)

Cooper hung out eating french fries while we bowled.  Grandma and I took turns walking him around so he would stay away from the lanes and bowling balls.

 This is not the best picture between being fuzzy and the lighting but here's proof that G & G went bowling with us.  (Lighting in a dark bowling alley is not ideal for pictures.)

 And here we are with our five year old.  Crazy.

 After bowling we took a drive to see a house lit up with a nativity about whales and other sea animals..

It was complete with a key to explain the nativity.  The killer whales were Baby Jesus, Joseph and Mary.  There was a starfish of Bethlehem, three humpback WiseMen, dolphin angels...the list goes on.  It was very creative.

After that we swung by O'McDonalds (as Fisher still calls it) for a happy meal and then on to home for his cake and ice cream.

Fisher is not a fan of cake so Grandma made him some brownies. 

(There are a few things in this life that I do not stress over nor feel obligated to do for my children in order to feel like a woman. 

1. Make my kid spectacular birthday cakes.  I know plenty of people who do this and I will gladly pay them for their services. 

2- Make my kids their own Halloween costumes.  See explanation for #1.  Not to mention I am perfectly fine buying from a store. I feel it is my duty to help the economy by purchasing costumes. 

3- Giving birth naturally.  I am a woman.  I don't need to go without an epidural to prove it.  Props to all the women who do but I feel that epidurals were invented for a reason and I fully intend to take advantage of this.) 

Todd and I found some How to Train Your Dragon toys to top the brownies with and we called it good.

Fisher loved it.  He is easy to please.

Deep breath.

Blow!

Happy Birthday Fisher.  We love you so much.  You are intelligent and funny and bursting with personality.  You are a terrific big brother, especially with the patience you exhibit when Cooper decides it is time to wrestle and goes straight for the eyes and face.  You are creative and kind as can be (when you feel like it).  You love hugs and kisses and being told how much we love you.  You love to tell us that you love us.  You love coloring and art projects of any kind.  You have a very good memory (one that puts Mommy to shame when playing Memory.  That comes from Daddy.)  You are all boy and love being outside and getting dirty.  You love animals although you still are a little rough with bugs.  You love dinosaurs, dragons, robots, Transformers, Spiderman, Batman and playing on the computer.  You love decorating for holidays and planning birthday parties.  You have a sweet tooth to rival Cookie Monster and you love Happy Meals although that is much more for the toys than the food. You are also very complicated, but we won't go into that too much. :)  One of these days we will figure you out!  In the mean time know how much we love you.  This next year is going to have a lot of changes for you with adding another little brother, moving to Omaha and you starting Kindergarten.  We hope five will be a good year for you!

We love you Buddy.

Love,

Mommy & Daddy