Emerson's 8th birthday party

 

Someone was a little excited about his upcoming birthday party!

 It wasn't Walt...

Emerson told me he was so excited the night before that he could hardly sleep!
(He had the party a week early, on Sunday, May 7th since his birthday weekend was Mother's Day weekend)

 Yep, that's my Emerson King!

 His party was a basketball theme...Warriors!

He was dressed for the occasion!

 Walt wanted to get in the car...and he wanted to sit in the front seat.  

His almost-8-year-old brother climbed in with him...

 Papa was taking care of Emily's flowers...

 Walt was thinking it was time for a little grass cutting...

 

 We made it to the park and got everything set up..

 

Emerson's buddies started arriving...

 and basketball began!

 Well, some needed to sit awhile...

and rest...

 Courtney and Lindsey found each other...

 I definitely can't talk about all the people that were there, because I didn't know them!

But this table was set up with some snacks...and pizza...

 Walt was worn out from all his hitting...

but he brought his bat and ball with him to sit for awhile..

 The party was in full swing...

 Walt had his own personal hoop!

 William got a bit of nourishment by a slice of pizza...

 Gabe was watching his boys play!

 Emily had to take a little break...

 no break for Emerson...

he continued to play...

and play hard!

 Jenn was helping to keep track of Mr. Walt

and make sure he was fed!

 Gabe decided to show those boys how to play basketball!

 Jenn continued to feed Mr. Walt!

 Emily's dad was there, talking with Donnie...

 There were white T shirts that you could decorate.

Benjamin was drawing a basketball with

Durant #35

 A little father/daughter time...

 Kirk and Brody...along with Stephanie and Blake

came from the Sacramento area...

in traffic!

 Walt was trying to show his Aunt Lindsey how to shoot baskets.  He gave her the small ball thinking it might be easier for her while she was learning.

Donnie was also talking to Diane, Emily's mom.

 Sue and Greg were relaxing in the shade talking with Emily..

 Guess who this diaper belongs to?

 This little man was getting T-I-R-E-D...

so his Mimi took him for a walk..

a long walk...

trying to get him to go to sleep...

but he kept getting excited at things he saw....airplane, helicopter, dogs, a basketball hoop...

but finally, mission accomplished!

I missed when the popsicles were handed out...or if they sang Happy Birthday to Emerson...

 Emerson is not a cake-person, so popsicles are what he prefers.

I think they were a BIG hit!

 I love this picture of Noah and Emerson!

 Benjamin was playing baseball in the field next to the basketball courts...

 William was checking out his party bag...

 Oh boy!  Brody discovered, as did the other boys, that a squirt gun was in the bag!

 Some were still into playing basketball...

 Papa decided to get out and strut his stuff...

but I think Emerson needs to work with Papa on his form!

Noah, Emerson, and Blake

It was a great 8th birthday party...

beautiful weather...

great friends and family...

Happy #8 again, Emerson King!!!

Minecraft

Benjamin and William love to play Minecraft!

I have it on my phone and my iPad. 

When I'm there, and when ALL Benjamin's homework is finished, they get to play it.  Benjamin always plays on the phone and William on the iPad.  

This was actually in the morning before we left.  I had let them play a bit while we packed the car.

I love these boys...

Benjamin's animal project

 

When we were at Lindsey's the beginning of May, Benjamin had an animal project he needed to finish for school.  At first, he wasn't too thrilled about working on it.  Once he started putting it together, he was excited...and proud of it.  He had every reason to be proud of it.

 He decided to make a book out of it...and he had the idea to trim the original pages and glue them on construction paper to make a book.  At one point, I asked him if I could help trim the pages.  He paused, thought abut it and said, "Well, I think 90% yes and 10% no."  I told him I really thought it would be ok to just help cut the edges off the white part of the paper. 

 Once the book was finished...and it looked wonderful!!!...he told me he was going to have to present it to his class.  So, he started practicing how he was going to say it.  I was his audience.

 

He read it all to his Papa...

I love this picture of Benjamin and his Papa...sitting on the porch steps...and Benjamin sharing his project.  He did an amazing job on it!

William's soccer game

 

William loves soccer!

He told Lindsey it was his favorite sport!

 We were down there May 6th and got to see William play in a game.

He was practicing a bit at home before we took off.

 Lindsey is one of the coaches...

so she was running the team through some drills before the game.

Love this picture!!!

 William is #2!

 The team has more players than they can have on the field at one time.

So...players take turns sitting out a quarter.

 William told me his favorite position to play is goalie.

He played this position for 2 quarters.

I love this shot of William going to kick the ball!

 Benjamin was cheering for his brother...

After the game, this brown bag of snacks is a welcome site!

Great job, William!

We loved loved loved watching you play!!!