April 16, 2016 Thurston's Birthday Party

A couple months ago Thurston went to his friend Gavin's birthday party at a rec center that had a climbing wall.  Ever since then he keeps asking if he can go again, so we decided to have his birthday party at The Source -- a rock climbing place in Vancouver.  We had never been there before, but heard that it was a favorite place for some friends who have kids that rock climb, so we booked it.
It was a hit.  The kids had so much fun, and the girls helping with the party made it super easy and were great with the kids.  Thurston seems to be a natural at climbing, several of the coaches there made comments about how well he was doing and mentioned that he should join their junior rock climbing team...  I think he was doing pretty well, but still am not sure if they were just being extra nice in the name of recruiting more kids.

The party started upstairs on a smaller wall and after the kids mastered that they got to go down and climb the big wall.

Thurston, Jack Richey, and Carson Vann

Tamsyn, Sharp Young, Dantley, Thurston, Luke Scrivens, Carson, and Gavin Reid

Dantley and Sharp

Thurston, Gavin and Carson

Jack, Sharp, Luke and Thurston

Tamsyn and Dantley

Jack and Thurston

They stopped in the middle for a snack and presents -- We made cupcakes with rock candy on them.  We were all too interested in the climbing to remember to take pictures of the treats.

April 15 -16, 2016 - Dantley with the Kittens and Tamsyn planting Garden

Sometimes when the kids are at school, Dantley and I go up to the girls' room and play with the kittens to our hearts content.


Willow is ever watchful.  She is a very good momma.

A few of the kittens love to like faces -- especially right after you brush your teeth.


Before grandma Alyce left, she helped Dantley paint this rock.  It was still wet when she left, so she she asked me to take a picture and send it to her.


April 16, 2016
Our neighbor Heidi gave us a package with a whole bunch of seed packets in it.  They are moving to live in a trailer closer to Woodland and she didn't have anywhere to plant.  We realized when we opened the package that the seeds were dated 2014 -- so we aren't sure if they will grow, but I told Tamsyn she could have a section of the garden to plant them all in.

April 15 -16, 2016 Thurston's Birthday & Paul McCartney Concert

April 15, 2016
Thurston decided that Hawthorne is the kitten for him!


He got to open his present from Dantley before the rest because all of us except Dantley were heading to the Paul McCartney concert.  Dantely chose out a Mario Galaxy game for the Wii for Thurston.  Dantley went to the Allen's while we went to the concert. In hindsight, I wish we would have just gotten him a ticket too.




Thurston wanted spaghetti and meatballs for his birthday dinner so went to the Old Spaghetti Factory in Portland before the concert. Since it was his birthday we also let him get this special cotton candy drink.  Sadly it wasn't all that good.


The lines outside the Moda Center were crazy long.

There were some crazy people out with these signs.  The kids wondered why Mormons were on the list.


I tried to get 2 better tickets for Thurston and I, but the truth is they probably were only more expensive than the ones Jake got for him and the girls.  We might have been slightly closer to the stage, but the angle for all of the theatrics wasn't nearly as good as the view would've been from the front even farther back.


We had lots of fun.  There were some songs we didn't know from his newer albums, so of course we liked the old stuff better.  "Live and Let Die" had the best pyrotechnics, and Thurston really enjoyed  "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da". 


Jake and the girls are setting somewhere over by where those 4 spotlights are.


Here are some shots Jake took from where they were sitting.


April 16, 2016 - Thurston waited to have his cake until the day after his birthday-- which I think he was okay with considering he got to see Paul McCartney sing "Let it Be" live on his 9th birthday.
He asked for an oreo ice cream cake -- which I was thrilled to make (so much easier than the Monopoly cake I made last year).


It's going to be pretty hard to beat his favorite gifts from this year -- Paul McCartney tickets and a kitten!!!

Love this sweet kid!