Birthday Weekend Recap!

We had a super fun, almost 100% perfect weekend celebrating our birthday boy!

We kicked things off on Friday by celebrating with him at school. Terrell brought us all lunch and we arranged for Austin to come eat with us too. Then the whole family went back to Garrison's classroom to sing and celebrate with cookie cake. Every single year this is a huge hit and not a bite is wasted. =)

We also made a stop by AnAn's room before signing out for the day. Celebrating on a Friday just calls for signing out early. 

We had a fun kick-off to Garrison's birthday weekend. =)

Saturday morning we woke the boys up bright and early with a birthday surprise! They knew we were taking them on Garrison's birthday outing but they didn't know where we were going. So we gave Garrison his birthday card Saturday morning during breakfast with a clue inside... Where we are going is covered in white. After a few guesses and thinking out loud, he figured it out! 

Garrison's birthday present/outing from us was a trip to Snow Mountain!! We'd been once before when Garrison was almost 4 and Austin was 18 months, but we wanted to go back when we could all enjoy it together. Austin was too little to fully enjoy everything last time, plus Layton had a small window to go for free this year (2 and under are free),  and he's tall enough to do the family tubing! 

Garrison's birthday outings are sometimes tricky thanks to his Winter birthday and the fact that we like to celebrate in early February and save Layton's for late February or early March... so this was perfect for him. I think it was one of his most favorite!!

Ready to play in the snow and freezing cold!

We layered and bundled big time for this outing. We arrived at 9 when they opened and when we got out of the car it was 33 degrees! 33!! This is COLD for us. Especially given we're having a mild Winter and aren't used to freezing temps. Thank goodness for sunshine and little to no wind!

We started off with the mini sleds before realizing Garrison was too tall... so we let Austin and Layton sled before moving on to the kiddie tubes. 

The big boys loved the tubes! Layton rode twice and decided he wasn't super impressed. Ha.

So Layton and I ended up playing in the snow while Terrell watched Garrison and Austin on the tubes.

Then right at 10:30 we made our way over to Avalanche Alley and the big family tubes. We signed up for 10:30 tubing and had 2 whole hours ahead of us. This picture was before our very first time down. Notice 3 members are excited, one is afraid, and one is oblivious. Haha! We had so much fun though!! The 5 of us tubing together was the highlight of this outing for me. Family fun we can all enjoy is my very favorite!

These next 2 pictures were taken on our first trip to Snow Mountain when we had to tag team with Garrison because Austin wasn't big enough. You literally drop off a little cliff at the top before soaring down. Austin and Layton were super apprehensive at first and not huge fans (partly thanks to my hooping and hollering, haha) but after a few trips down they loved it. 

We had the best time. We laughed and held on tight and loved every second. 

After our 2 hours of tubing were up, everybody was starving. So we went straight to lunch and then took a break indoors to see the 4D show near the marketplace where we ate before heading back to the snow. These 3 played in the snow, made a snow castle, made snow angels, and the big boys tubed some more before we called it a day. 

Garrison loved his present and was so sweet thanking us for it. He gave me a hug while we were waiting in line for tubing and said Thanks mama for my present. I love it. It's a big present. =) He was sad to leave when it was time to go. This outing was definitely a big favorite for everybody.

I flashed back to our first ever birthday outing with him more than once on Saturday. An idea was born, a tradition started, and now it's something super special we all look forward to. It's evolved and changed just a little from that first outing, but I'd say it's just about perfected now. Austin is already talking about where we'll go for his outing. =)

Then on Sunday morning we woke up ready to celebrate Garrison turning 8! 

8 balloons to wake up to and 8 candles in his birthday doughnut. #birthdaytraditions

We got ready for a morning at church and then I left early to come home and make tacos for lunch. The birthday boy's special request. =)

Sunday afternoon was both restful and busy. Layton napped, Garrison and Austin watched a movie, and mama and daddy got ready for our Super Bowl party. 

Another celebration for our big boy and one of his favorite teams!!

The first half of the game was amazing. So fun, exciting, and happy. And yummy. =)

The 2nd half was heartbreaking. Sigh. We still LOVE our Falcons and are so proud of their amazing season and NFC Championship, but Sunday night was tough. Really tough.

Thankfully the boys have bounced back pretty quick and we've focused on the positive. We'll be back and ready to RISE UP next season!! 

Garrison's birthday weekend was so much fun. Saturday was needed by this mama. Fun-filled, laughter-filled, stree-free, anxiety-free family time. We loved celebrating with our favorite 8 year old and made some really sweet memories. Love my family and our super special birthday outings!

Next up, Layton Thomas turns 3!