10/10/10

That wasn't just a cool date. It was my Mackey's 5th birthday.

On 10/10 five years ago at 10:19 a.m my sweet Mac came into this world. He was very ready to make his entrance and other than me and his daddy, he didn't wait on a single person to make it to the hospital. He was my biggest baby weighing 8 lb. 5 oz., 20 in. long. He's the middle one (well, the middle boy). Need I say more???

I will anyway. He's fun-loving, affectionate, kind-hearted, loves the ladies (especially blondes) :), and is free-spirited. He has impeccable manners. He tells me a few times throughout the day out of the blue that he loves me. It melts my heart every time. He has a smile that is contagious. He has the softest skin. He is fearless - which scares me. He's a risk-taker and doesn't mind stepping out of his comfort zone. He looks so much like his daddy and has the same mannerisms. So much so that it's almost scary. He's a softy and gets his feelings hurt easily yet he's so very tough. He likes his coffee as soon as he gets up in the mornings (decaf of course). He loves candy and gum although he's not much on sweets like cakes, cupcakes or chocolate. 

He IS love!

We opted to forego a big party this year. It's a lot of work (not to mention it can get rather costly) and I find that I don't enjoy their birthdays as much when there's so much to be done. Obviously if it's something he really wanted I would've done it for him, but it wasn't. We did, however, surprise him with a trip to the fair Sunday. He knew we were going somewhere special for his birthday but didn't know where until we pulled up to it.

We started his day with some confetti pancakes:

He also requested Spiderman cupcakes which some of us may have had for breakfast:

Then we headed to the surprise location. This is him looking out the window when we told him we were close.

And when he realized we were at the Fair.

These couple of pictures are about the happiest ones I have of our outing:

This was before B really got hot, before the corndog started to digest, and before she rode the swings - all of which led to a little nausea and thus an ill little Umby:

Bless her little stomach. It was nothing a funnel cake couldn't cure, especially being it was on our way out and she knew she was moments away from air conditioning.

I'm not excited to report it wasn't a very happy trip. I had such high hopes that it would be the greatest fair trip ever for us as a family. It was Mac's birthday. We had kept it a surprise. We went as soon as they opened so  not many people were there. Umby was all excited about it and had been singing "The Alabama National Fair" theme song for weeks. :) The boys were older so I thought it would be a bit easier. But...

It was a big fat bust. It was hot. HOT. Like 93° hot. Somehow 93° weather and the Fair just don't go together. Many of the rides were closed which of course were the ones my crew wanted to ride most. We made the most of it (corndogs and a funnel cake helped), and all-in-all when I look back on it I'm glad we went. But we were all happy to be home. Although I must mention if for no other reason than maybe this will remind me for next year, that I think what we should've done is given the boys a certain amount of money to spend each and told them they could either spend it on tickets for rides or on those dumb games those people try to guilt you into letting your kids play. Rude. All the boys wanted to do was play those games. When we finally did let them play a game they managed to win a giant stuffed dog which the carnie was ever so sweet to exchange for 3 small ones only to have one of them split down the seam before we even left the fair. Insert meltdown. 

It wasn't ALL without some comic relief though. Reid wasn't a fan of the roller coaster. In fact, he wasn't a fan of most of the rides. But the roller coaster was his least favorite which of course made Chris, B and me laugh hysterically when he was on it and wanted off. I know. We're terrible. These are so worth the money spent and heat and meltdowns endured (click on them to enlarge them so you get the full effect).

This one is so typical of them: Grant is trying to figure how everything works; Mac is just enjoying the ride; and Reid is wigging out. His face CRACKS ME UP.

And yes, by this time had carnieman not stopped the ride I was going to see to it that he did:

Oh my side.

RaRa, Gracie Lou and Claire will be here this weekend. We're looking forward to spending some time with them and helping Mackey celebrate even more. Because one weekend isn't enough. Five is big-time. Didn't you know?!? It's the magic number. It's what age we've told Mac he has to be when he asks when he'll start big school. Obviously he didn't quite understand he won't actually start kindergarten the minute he turns five - that it won't be until next fall. His teacher, Mrs. Rita, always gives her students 100 kisses when they leave for kindergarten. Last Friday Mackey reminded her his birthday was Sunday and asked her if she was going to give him 100 kisses before he started big school. She said, 

"Of course I will, Mac!" 

He said, "Well you better hurry up because I turn 5 Sunday." :) 

That's my Mackey.

Last year on his birthday I did sort of a "through the years" post. I thought this year I would post some of my favorites of Mac throughout this past year:

And let's not forget this one:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEET BOY! WE LOVE YOU!