Celebrating {Ten} times Over!

This was a big one...a decade big...am I really that old big...to have a ten year old?!

Guess so...because it happened...after preparing for it last weekend with family...it was made official on Friday the thirteenth...

Alex turned 10 years old!  {...g.a.s.p... I've been holding my breath hoping it wouldn't happen...but it did...I guess I can just breathe now...}

We even celebrated his last day of being nine...hoping I could convince him how great nine is...by indulging in chips and salsa and an Oreo Molten Lava cake at Chili's!

Nope...still wanted to turn ten!  shoot!

If you can't beat 'em...I guess we'll join 'em...

So Emily and I started the birthday decorating when Alex went to bed...
...special birthday chair reserved just for 10 year olds...streamers...balloons...presents and plenty of sugar to surprise him on his birthday morning!

Excited to have his own goldfish!

{Bubbles}

The next morning, he picked out a friend for Bubbles...

{Wiggles!}

{they get along great!}

He was pretty pleased with the rest of his gifts too!

{a couple games for his 3DS}

{a big box of trouble! ha!  thanks Emily!}

{Legos}

{a Blu-ray disc player for his room!  Bubbles and Wiggles will want to watch Nemo while he's at school, of course!}

A very Happy Birthday boy!

But we have one more gift to get to...

We had a fun family day at our first visit to Holiday World!

 {my sister and I came here when it was Santa Clause Land and had our picture taken with Santa when we were Alex and Emily's age...hard to believe I'm the one here with my own kids now!}

The park has grown much bigger since I was a kid!

Emily and Elizabeth are checking out some of the rides while we eat a snack...

{We'll ride the carousel first, okay Ellie?}

Emily was such a great big sister, and was so happy to help Ellie on the rides and enjoy them with  her!

Elizabeth loved the airplanes...and I loved watching her laugh and grin while her hair was blowing in the breeze...and I loved how lovingly Emily helped her into the plane and rode with her!

{this is the memory I have of me and my sister here as kids...riding in the airplanes!  Love these memories for them too!}

Emily took a spin on the bumper boats...

...while Dan took Alex on his first roller coaster!  He was pretty excited!

...but he was only so-so about it after the ride!  Emily is so ready to ride those big, jerky, fast down-hill roller coasters...but she still needs to grow, bless her heart!  I keep telling her that she'll be first in line soon enough!

Let's move on to the water slides!

The water park was big enough that I decided to stay and let Ellie play on the little slides and splash in the pool, while Dan, Alex and Emily had a blast on all the big slides!

 

 

But they took a little break to come hang out with us while we were checking out the wave pool!

Ellie had a great time...but was getting sleepy...so we found a nice shady bench to sit and she went right to sleep in the stroller!

That meant the big birthday boy was ready to go down the Mammoth a couple more times!  I really wish I had pictures of them and was able to watch them!  How fun! 

We ended our water fun with one lap around the lazy river...

And then a couple screams down Frightful Falls! 

We really wanted to enjoy more rides...but Alex partied until he dropped...literally!  He kept going and going until we told him we need to stop and eat, and he realized what a bad headache he had.  After getting him some medicine and taking a break, he laid his head down on the table and zonked out!  We decided it was best to call it a day and plan for another trip next year!

But we had a great time and I'm so proud of this big ten year old!

We were all pretty tired after such a long, fun day...

...but there was still some birthday singing to do, birthday wishes to be made, and candles to blow out since we left first thing in the morning!

 {not impressed with our singing! ha!}

We didn't stop the party there...although we did get some sleep for the night...
...we were greeted the next morning with more fun from Grammy, Aunt Nicole and Hunter!

 {having fun with Hunter's toys!}

And we were finally blessed with some rain...but it didn't stop us from swimming!  And we also enjoyed some sunshine after the rain!  Another great day of fun and family!

Ellie woke up from her nap just in time for a quick swim...

...but she didn't want anymore pictures!  "No pictures please!"  Busted!

I'm still not quite in agreement about having a ten-year old...

...but he's grown up to be quite a handsome, smart and clever young man...and for that I'm pretty proud to call him my perfect ten!