Happy Birthday Sonya!

Ellen, don't be so depressed - its your daughter's birthday! That's right, Sonya was having a birthday and we were there to celebrate. This was due partly to the fact that the Henneman's decided to celebrate with some other friends up here in Evanston, making the commute to the party tooootally doable.The centerpiece of the party was this little critter - a pinata. Completely unbreakable this thing was. Even the adults struggled.Elmo. Not sure why I'm including this in this post...maybe because Max is obsessed with Elmo and everything is Elmo, Elmo, Elmo. Natalia takes a few worthy cracks at breaking this mother open, but to no avail. Birthday girl Sonya also took some solid wacks - but still no candy! Who would save the day?Maybe with a little daddy Scott assistance? Nope...still nothing.Super Max to the rescue!!! Hooray Super Max! Show that pinata whats up!Alright, I don't want to give the impression that max did it. In fact, I think it was the little girl bending over getting candy that finally cracked open the beast and spilled its sugary guts all over the lawn for the children to eat like zombies on human entrails. But whoever did it, Max reaped the benefits - so who cares? Here he is double fisting some suckers.Later Sonya opened some presents, including the bubble gun that we got her - which honestly she seemed pretty pumped about. So we feel good about that. It was great to see our friends Scott and Ellen again. Despite the fact that we live in the same city, the 45 minute commute can just seem so far and finding that perfect time for both families to get together is harder than you'd think. But we both need to try more.

Oh, and Happy Birthday Scott.

Get My Birthday Runnin' - Head Out On The Highway!

Something about these cupcakes and fruit plates scream birthday to me.

I was right! And here is the birthday boy himself - Eli turning one years old! This kid is one of the most energetic and happy babies I have ever seen in my life. If you lift him up...he does the running man in the air. It is a consistent flow of energy, until he takes a nap at least.

Max and Eli are certainly buddies. Caitlin and Mom-of-Eli Mel are also buddies.

Delicious. But these cupcakes would have to wait. We had some serious partying to do. Let me show you more.

Bike parking this way. Yes. I liked where this was going.

Captain Landon at your service. Like any good Captain, Landon was leading this bike party to victory. He would go down with his vessel if necessary. But first we had to decorate our bikes with streamers and signs and stuffs.

This was my sign.

Caitlin's more traditional sign - but I think the stars give it some edge.

I think this picture says a lot about Eli's future and the people we are hanging out with here in Fort Lauderdale. Sure, they are moms and dads with babies and jobs and such. But they also like to kill it xtreme and have fun.

Max's buddy Owen was there too to ring in the birthday cheer.

And gimpy handicapped me was there! I mostly served as the picture taker and baby sitter since I couldn't ride a bike or skateboard. I did my duties with cheer.

Like snapping this cute photo of the birthday boy.

Caitlin really worked our bike and made it look awesome for the bike parade.

The head of the parade was the Fort Lauderdale mayor's golf cart. Max freakin' loves steering wheels. Look at his face as he grips it. I love watching him behind any wheel. He loses it.

These two matching sassy pants chicks were ready to roll with kids in tow.

And they were off!

Wasn't Caitlin's bike totally b****in'?

Boarders and birthday boy in front, leading the pack to the park. We proceeded forward for about 3/4 of a mile.

The partiers! Eli had a solid turn out because, well, he's really popular. Also, we have a lot of great friends down here already.

Caitlin is surrounded by amazing women down here in Florida, and she really loves it. These women have totally scooped her up and made her the most welcome babe ever. She constantly has something to do or someone to see, and it makes nine months in Florida seem a bit too short.

We made it to the park just in time for some swinging. Seriously, how cute is Eli?

I mean, come on. Stop killin' us kid.

Speaking of killin' us with the cuteness...Max on a slide. Does it get any better than that?

There were Capri Suns and oranges to keep our electrolytes up as we played.

One sexy dude...with fruit in his mouth.

Rick rocked that horsey until it cried uncle. We had to dig a whole in the sand so he could take it further. Amazing.

Eli took a turn rockin' it as well, and did so with style.

And then it was time to head back for desserts and birthday closure.

Boarders, leading the way. We had to hurry cause there was a massive rain storm coming our way.

Back home, Eli showed us what he thought about eating a cupcake on his birthday. YEAH RIGHT GUYS! Do you know how tired I am from all this fun??? Its nap time dudes.

So we snapped one more picture and nap time it was. While Eli retired, the rest of us ran to Taco Bell to grab some $0.88 Crunchwrap Supremes that were on sale this week only. Holy crap they taste better when they are less than a buck.

Happy Birthday Eli! Thanks for inviting Max and crew to your party dude! You are one rockin' 1 year old.

Birthday in the USA!

It should take you less than 0.05 seconds (faster than Google!) to figure out that this is a picture of a kid who is having a birthday. Maybe its the "my life is perfect" smile, or maybe its the twinkle in his eye? Maybe its the birthday hat? Either way, you guessed right - it was Chris's birthday a week ago. So we celebrate.

Chrisk Taker doesn't like normal stuff...like bday cake. He likes Rice Krispee treats with confetti inside. On your birthday, you get what you want.

And just because its not cake, doesn't mean you can't make a bday wish. World peace? No. Chris is wishing for a sale at the dollar store.

Proof that Chris blows, hardcore.

Don't worry guys, we didn't make Chris celebrate alone. Nick and Shannon came (possibly for Max or my stash of diet soda, but they still came).

Ryan and Cheron - HUGE supports of Chris. This party was proof that they just don't hang out with Chris to play with his daughter. She wasn't even there!

Max is also a big fan of Chris. We all celebrated by playing compliment club, Scrabble (he is genuine competition) and watching me play DDR. I made Chris 5 CD mixes in an attempt to introduce songs other than Party in the USA and Halo to him. We'll see if it catches.

Happy birthday dude!