happy 4th birthday to our Brady...family style

Happy 4th Birthday, Brady Joseph!!

Yes, it's my birthday...finally, I am 4.  I've been waiting on this day for several months now.  Not for any particular reason (besides that one my best friends, McKinly, turned 4 in May, and I like to be the same age as he is!!), but I sure do love my birthday!  

Here I am...proud to be 4!!

Each year on our birthdays, Mommy decorates the kitchen table with our favorite toys, themes, activities, etc...then, Mommy puts our presents on the table for us to look at all day :)

I love anything Avengers right now, so it made it easy for Mommy!!

Daddy came home for lunch on my birthday, so I was able to open my presents from my family then...

Daddy & me...

I enjoyed opening all my gifts...

"yay...something Hulk"...

Hulk is my favorite right now...

Reading my card with Daddy, my hero...

Looking in my Avengers bag for goodies...books, Avengers tervis tumbler, & more!

My cup and me...wahoo!

A bat & ball for some more baseball fun!

Opening my last gift (for now)...

"Sweet...hawkeye's bow...that's awesome" were my exact words!

My Mommy & Me

Averie & Me

Now, my table is really ready for my birthday party with my grandparents, uncles, aunts, & cousins...

table decorated, my gifts opened and on display, cupcakes ready, fun, fun!

Ready (& obviously excited) in my new birthday shirt (& with Hulk) to go to dinner...

Of course, I chose "Big Fire"

McKinly & me

Poppy, Nana, & me

Daddy, Mommy, & me

Attempt #42 on a family picture...and still not everyone looks.  We are just a busy, happy family! :)

Brecken & Me

My cupcake (my pick...yellow cake with funfetti chocolate icing) and my big #4!

"Happy Birthday to me"

A little blurry, but a really big blow for the candle!

Not to anyone's surprise, I blew it out on the first try! :)

Time to open some more presents...so excited to get Monster's, Inc. (Our first copy got completely worn out since it's one of my faces!) from Uncle Art & Aunt Kelly.  (On Mommy's side of the family, we draw names for gifts.  The uncle/aunt that buys my Christmas presents also buys my birthday presents for that year.)

Obviously excited to get Thor...another Avenger action figure!

...and Iron Man...wahoo!  Thanks Uncle Art & Aunt Kelly for all the goodies!!

A fun book of Disney stories...

...& a light up Razor scooter!!  Thanks Poppy & Nana!

For some reason, I don't have a picture of my super cool gift from Uncle Blair, Aunt Blip Blip, McKinly, & Easton, but I sure love my Captain America shield that shoots out discs...wahoo!  Thanks guys!

My last gift...& my big gift from Daddy, Mommy, Averie, & Brecken...a bigger bike!!  Wahoo!

(in the picture is also Sam, Kaitlyn, Jackson, & Stephanie)

Love my new bike!

Such a super fun birthday...I had a great day, and I sure love being 4!!

just like Daddy

This sweet lil' guy wants to be JUST like his Daddy...it's absolutely precious!  He copies everything Daddy does...& he wants to do everything Daddy does!  So, one of many mornings, he got to shave with Daddy...yep, just like Daddy!

Shaving cream on...washing hands off!

Shaving...

...almost done!

And, if you ask Brady who he wants to be like when he gets older, he always says, "Just like my Daddy."  Such a sweet bond between him and his Daddy.  Brady sure is a little Joey, and we are so very thankful for him!

Nana & Poppy love

Happy Birthday to our Poppy!  We love you!

Poppy & Nana with all their grandchildren (l-r):

Easton (14 mths.), Brecken (16 mths), Brady (3 years old), McKinly (4 years old), & Averie (6 years old)

We are very thankful for family!

great wolf lodge

As a surprise, Daddy & Mommy took Brady & me to the Great Wolf Lodge for one night.  We got 2 full days of swimming, sliding, playing games, and eating.  We had such a fun time...and it was only 20 minutes away :)  And, a big thank you to Oma for keeping Brecken so that we could go!

Us checking in...

...& giving hugs! 

All ready to swim...

...& have some fun!

This place had so many water slides, a wave pool, family rides, and water tree house, water ropes course, and more.  We had so much to do and had so much fun!

That night after dinner, we got to stay up late and play some games in the arcade.  We won about 500 tickets and traded them in for "treasures." (Mommy called it junk! :))  

Here is Daddy helping me play a motorcycle game...or rather, maybe I am just riding along while he plays! :)  Either way, we both had very focused looks on our faces! :)

That evening, we were so ready for bed...lots of hours swimming, playing games, & having fun together.  And, we even had bunk beds on our room, so we thought that was pretty awesome.  

Happy Brady Boy

Sweet Averie Bug

Having fun together!

Ready for another day of fun...

Daddy & Averie

Mommy & Brady

Ropes course attempt #29....

...getting there...

...really trying...

...and she completed it!!  Yay!

Brady's attempt #314...

...crossing over...and with a little help from "Sissy" (see here at the bottom of the picture holding the pieces together)...

....he completes it!! Yay!

Smiling Brady

Smiling Averie

Wearing Daddy's shoes...

So, before heading home, we dried off and Daddy let us play some more arcade games.  We planned to each play a few games...and Daddy also played a few games.  Daddy's first game was an older game he played years ago and used to be able to win a lot of tickets...and then, handing those 500 tickets to other children.  He wanted to see if he could still win!  So, in one token goes...and he wins!  But, not tickets, but a MP3 player!  We couldn't believe it!  Then, we each played a few games.  While we helped Mommy put the tickets into the counting machine, Daddy went to play his last tokens.  On the last game, he hit the jackpot on the monster drop game...2,000 tickets!!! So, in $20 worth of tokens, we had over 2,500 tickets and a mp3 player.

Daddy & us with his jackpot win!

And, we traded in those tickets for more "treasures"...a few stuffed animals, bouncy balls, pencils, erasers, puzzles, Avengers ball, and candy!  Such a fun time!

A few more pics with some of our loot!

Then, as our last activity before heading out for dinner and picking up Brecken, we got to do a "build-a-bear" at the Great Wolf Lodge...

Brady chose a dragon...

And, Averie helping...

...she chose a girl wolf!

Us with Daddy...

Our last picture...a little blurry, but big smiles on our faces.  

We had a great time!  What a fun "trip" for us!