Calvin's first 5th birthday day

Dave tried his hardest to get Saturday off so that he could be at Calvin's birthday party but it didn't work out and he ended up with Friday off instead. He felt really bad to miss Calvin's party especially after this conversation with Calvin.
Calvin: "Hey Daddy, are you coming to my birthday party?"
Dave: "No Calvin, sorry, I have to work that day."
Calvin: "But no Dad, you have to come. Plllleeeaaasssee"
We knew Calvin wouldn't miss Dave once the party got going b/c he'd be having too much fun but he just wanted to know that everyone was going to be there to be as excited as him!
Dave really wanted to do something fun and special with Calvin Friday on his day off. After school we went out to lunch and the took the kids to the beach to play. The weather hear has been glorious the past few days! After the beach we came home and had Calvin's favorite dinner -- chicken rolls -- and then had cupcakes, sang, and opened a couple of presents from a couple of grandmas.

Dave got Calvin a t-ball set so they played at the beach for a while.


The kids also chased the birdies.

Most of the birds were across a little "river" so Dave had to carry them across to get to the other beach. This is just one of the many reasons why it is so much better with Dave because I would not have carried the kids across!


Here is dave holding clare to chase them becuase she's not quite fast or big enough to scare the whole pack away by herself.






While Dave and Calvin were playing baseball, clare was playing in some little pools of water. It started with throwing rocks in the water. Then she decided to put her feet in.


Then, Calvin decided to join in. (both had gotten wet enough that they had lost a layer of clothes by this point).


Then Clare fell and got completely soaked. She is a little sad . . .


but as soon as we took off her wet shirt she was happy again!


And, Clare did eventually decide she needed to take off the soaking wet pants as well!



Overall, a fun day. It is nice that it is getting dark a little later. Sunset is now around 5:30 and at the end of December it was 4:30. It is nice to have an extra hour of outside time. The picture of Calvin looking at his candle is from that evening. He opened two presents and they were both transformers, which was great!