Twenty One

We spent a super quick weekend in Oregon this past weekend celebrating this glow-stick-carrying-girl (more on the glow-sticks in a minute):

Yep! My baby sister Kelly! Not only is she funny, fabulous, and the coolest sister out of all of us....she also just so happened to turn twenty-one this last Saturday. A reason to celebrate all together up in Oregon? I think YES! (Or in Nathan's case, double YES!! It was his idea to drive up, after all.) The weekend was short, but it was packed with fun...and packed with fun, in my world, translates into lots of photos! Hold onto your hats and scan if you must :)

Buuuut, before we left on Thursday, there was one very important event that a certain almost five year old living in this house was very excited about: his preschool Easter party and egg hunt. Collin, Tanner and I came to watch and help out with the festivities...and since we were there anyway, I had to sneak a few pictures in.

Drewski was insistant upon wearing his "handsome hat" for the party....with his Bulldogs gear. Yep. I'm that mom. If my kid looks mismatched or ridiculous it's because the argument to get him into the cute clothes is just not worth it to me. Besides, he's awfully cute all mismatched and what not. And he's happy and proud of what he's wearing which makes it even more cute. Win!

They did the egg hunt before lunch and the party. All lined up and ready to run! Each kid had very specific instructions to collect four eggs. Not two, not three....four.

The mad dash

His class with their teachers Miss Kim and Miss Christi

Miss Kim is so sweet and always has something prepared for the younger siblings. In this case, each younger brother or sister was presented with a special egg just from Miss Kim and in the classroom she had set a special "siblings table" for lunch. It was nice for Collin to feel included and a pleasant surprise for me as I had prepped him on being a good sport about sitting on the sidelines and watching.

Anyway, after all of the preschool festivities were over, the boys and I patiently (or not so patiently) waited for Nathan and Uncle Burkie (who was driving with us since Auntie Jenn was already in Oregon) to get off work. We left as soon as they were home and intended to stay overnight in a hotel at our halfway point. Well thanks to some 5 pm coffee, come midnight when we had reached our stop, none of us were all that tired, sooooooo we kept right on driving...straight to my parents house where we pulled in at the bright and early hour of five am. I figured since the boys had slept all night while we were up driving, that they would probably be up for the day from five o'clock on and I wasn't wrong. Fortunately, Lala was just as excited to have the boys arrive as they were to have gotten there and was more than willing to entertain and hang out with them while Nathan and I caught up on some sleep. We spent the rest of Friday hanging out and running a few errands to get ready for Kell's birthday the next day...

Our friend Lauren (aka "Cookie") also came up to celebrate with us and was there to hang out on Friday. She's a family friend who went to high school and played soccer with Jenn and we l-o-v-e, love her! She has been biking across the United States and Thailand (yes, you read that right) for the past three months, so it was really, really fun to reunite and spend some time with her (and her boyfriend Brandt)!

Apparently a full day entertaining munchkins is exhausting! Poor Auntie Kell, Lala, and Auntie Jenn!

Come Saturday, we were all set for a day of birthday fun! Before all the birthday festivities though, Nathan surprised me with a pre-booked massage at Christi's salon (love him!) on Saturday morning. He and Burke and Auntie Kell joined me at the salon to have Christi cut their hair, so while we were gone the Littles headed out with Lala and Poppi to go pick up their baby chicks (when you live on a farm, fresh eggs are a must!).

Collin loves animals. In this regard, he is SO my child!

Helping get the chicky hotel ready up at the barn

Six little chicks. Like many other things at Lala and Poppi's house, I was just as smitten with these little girls as the boys were

Drew didn't like the chicks' toenails touching his hands. We kept trying to explain that if he would actually hold the chick instead of trying to have it perch on his hands like a Parakeet, that he wouldn't feel their little nails. Toenails or no toenails though, he still loved them!

By Saturday night, it was all about Auntie Kell! Per her request we had a big fish taco and margarita night with friends at my parents house; but no 21st birthday would be complete without at least one opportunity to flash that newly legal license. So, my parents kept all the little boys, played, fed them dinner and got all three into bed (love love love the parentals!) and let us take Kell out for appetizers and drinks before a late dinner back at my parents'. We stopped by Kell and Christi's house to pick them all up and our stop turned into a mini photo shoot high school prom style, so sorry for the many posed pictures, but a lot of them actually turned out pretty cute. Indulge me.

Love this handsome hubby of mine!

Auntie Jenn, me and Cookie

Sisters! Preggo Auntie Jenn, the birthday girl, Auntie Christi and me

And then the true prom picture: everyone grab your date!

Seriously, I want to know how this girl is twenty one already? I kid you not, she is still eight in my mind.

Officially, her first carding (yes, we were merciless with the photos; so much so that people started stopping by our tables to ask what the occasion was. Shameful, I know.)

The guys!

The girls!

I realize that these pictures are probably somewhat deceiving, but Kell's not really a big drinker. This was her one and only drink at the bar, a raspberry lemon drop.

Auntie Kell and Christinie Weenie

And this sweet girl with Auntie Jenn is my new friend Lindsey. I have shamelessly stolen her as a friend for myself. She's been buddies with all of my sisters for the past few years, but somehow I missed that friendship boat when it was passing by. Well my friend, tides are a changing! Meet my new friend Lindsey.

After appetizers and our time at the restaurant, we headed back to my parents house where these two lovely parental type units had this feast ready and waiting for us:

Fish tacos with all the fixings! Sooooo good!

They also had margaritas waiting for all of us. Not to brag, but my parents seriously are the best. ;)

Part of the birthday group

Nathan, our friend Lance, and my brother-in-law Ty Ty

Auntie Jenn finally let us take a belly pic!

Kell and her friend Cierra (I'm not kidding when I say Kell is eight in my mind. All I see in this picture is an eight year old with a margarita!)

Our friend Susie, Auntie Christi, and Susie's cute sister Mel (Tan Tan also made a brief appearance)

After dinner, we let Kell open her presents. Not only did she get the glowsticks in the very first picture from our Littles (which I'm sure was her favorite present!), my parents gave her this cool travel guitar (Kell plays amazing guitar and piano...she also sings. Told you she was the coolest sister!). She's headed to Australia for two weeks over the summer and the intent was for her to have a guitar she could easily travel with.

Us sisters and all our hubbies gave her a record player. Yep, it was on her wish list (again, she's the coolest!). We also dug out the boxes upon boxes of old records from our garage that Nathan snagged from my parents when they were moving and wanting to get rid of them, and found her all sorts of record gold: Rolling Stones, Eagles, Neil Diamond (he's *soooo* dreamy!), Allman Brothers, Blues Brothers, Joan Baez (insert Kell freaking out over that one), etc.

Annnnnnd at the very end of the night, this tiny party crasher showed up (PJ's and all). Check out those sleepy eyes!

Our friend Cookie also happens to be a photographer and had the fun idea of bringing along a Polaroid camera for the night (didn't even know they still made them!). She took all sorts of photos and the next morning we had a string of Polaroids marking memories of a very fun night.

The next day we spent playing on the river at my parents house. 

Building sandcastles...

...playing...

...and fishing. Lots and lots of fishing.

Our friend Lance (Susie's husband) is an expert fisher and gave Drew a lesson in baiting a worm on his hook

...and he wouldn't be a little boy if he didn't pretend to eat the slimy thing. G-ross!

And at the end of the day, the work was not for naught, he caught a fish and brought it back for dinner!

Drew and Coll watching Daddy and the Uncles gut the fish

The fish gutters: Ty Ty, Burkie and Nathan (gotta love the Ninkasi Brewery sweatbands...dead giveaway of a recent visit!)

One proud boy enjoying the fruits of his labor. Way too much fun!

Come Monday morning at four am, we were headed back home again (told you it was a quick weekend). Short as it may have been though, we had a blast! The sunny, clear days (even though it was freezing), were a tease for summer and I can't wait for our big trip in September!! Happy Birthday again Auntie Kell! We love you oodles!!