Three Is For Big Kids

"Ohmygoodness!!!"
As Eri often repeats me with that phrase (thank goodness it's a 'nice' phrase he has chosen to repeat...as of now)...it certainly sums up the weekend.
We had a wonderful birthday party for Eri. We were so lucky to have our friends come over and join us in celebrating three. It was very hot, muggy, sticky & gross, but somehow the waters & iced teas & beers & rum punch (um...yeah!) helped soften the blow of the hot day. Eri was lucky to have 2 friends his age join in the festivities, Cecila & Annelies. And then there were the younger friends, Elin & Joey & Braeden & Margaret, as well as Leona. There are few pictures of Eri from the waist down since I'm on my potty-training-streak (with some good days and some very not good days) and the poor guests had to witness Eri's lower half for much of the day. He's now known as "Nature Boy" among other things....
He had so much fun playing with toys (thanks to Babs & Jack & Nancy & Tony!!!), balloons, swimming, and of course, having intense conversations with his newest girlfriends! Most of our friends commented on how funny it was just watching them interact & talk with everyone.
Here are some of the pictures of the weekend.
(oh, and for some reason everything loaded backwards, so...start at the bottom if you have an issue with chronological order.)

The Smith usual birthday sign.

We're so into spending big bucks on decorations.
Jenna, Annelies & Elin enjoyed the Red Sox game with us this evening.
This is way past the kids' bedtime & they're just barely hanging on.

Leona, aka Godzilla, messes with Eri's new Thomas the Train set.

Something tells me this will be a bigger problem down the road...er, track.

(hardy har har)

Like Annelies, like Leona.

Or maybe it's like Papa, like Annelies.

She seems to be a die hard Red Sox fan, based on her need to really pay attention to the game.

At one point, Eri asked Annelies for help with his train track and she said, "No Eri, I'm watching the game."

Hans hangs with the kids.

These guys are soooooooo exhausted!

Annelies sits with Eri's Grandma to cheer on the Red Sox.

These guys were hilarious. They liked cheering with Hans & Pop Pop.

Eri was being silly & putting things on his head.

(notice all of the toys scattered all over the room)

Concentrating.

Eri is sure to keep the train on the tracks.

Little does he know, Godzilla is lurking.

There it is!

Leona found the favored train whistle.

She then found more things under the chair & kept trying to fit her whole head under the chair...hmmmm, didn't fit.

This whistle is so cool! Sounds like a real train whistle.

Mrs Joyce made Eri's birthday with this toy!

Eri opening his birthday gifts.

He's just figuring out he got a train set.

Eri opening a helicopter toy.

He's pretty excited about this, because he's heard many helicopters flying overhead since we've been here. Never mind the other gazillion sounds he's heard. We'll be eating on the porch and he'll say, "what's that noise???" with his hand cupped to his ear....so far it's been:

goats, sheep, airplanes, helicopters, hawks, trucks, police cars, ambulances, and who knows what else. Pop Pop never knew how many sounds there really were on his "quiet porch!"

Well, we learned one thing...

Leona loves cake.

Leona gets Lisa to feed her birthday cake.
And this is definitely not the only sucker she got to feed her!

Wait, Lisa! I'm thirsty too!

You weren't going to finish that, were you?

Annelies was having way fun at the birthday party.

I have absolutely no idea what's all over her face.

And here's the next victim!

Mrs Joyce feeds Leo some yummy cake.

Eri really enjoyed the Happy Birthday chorus this year.

What a celebration!

Elin is loving the balloons & baby pool.

So much to do! Trucks, a mini roller coaster (seriously, this is the coolest Little Tykes thing we've seen yet!), a teeter totter, baseball bats & tee & many balloons.

All adults chill in the shade, while the kids play far far away.....

Margaret makes her debut with her Daddy, Kevin!
She's soooooooo cute.

She had many compliments on her plaid brown outfit.

The morning of Eri's party.

He's taking in all of the decoration...in his underwear.

Scaling is for big kids.

Eri decided it's really fun to climb rocks.

It was only a few minutes earlier where he needed my help, and now he's gone pro.

Scituate Harbor to check out the ocean before Bill arrives....

I think we missed Bill.

Or rather, Bill missed us.

Phew!

Eri showing us his muscles.

(He picked out his outfit this day & required suspenders as well.)
Who is this kid???

N8 & Leo chilling on the rocks at the lighthouse.

Eri & the lighthouse. He had fun climbing all over the rocks & checking out the waves.