Happy Half Birthday!

We have had a great weekend!  We had some friends over for dinner on Friday and had a lovely evening with them.  It was a great excuse to share a big pot of chili (with newly found cheddar cheese), chips and guacamole! After Hayden came home, I asked him to watch Beckham while I started dinner.  He said ok and I promptly started cooking.  When I peeked around the corner, my heart melted to see Hayden with his hand on Beckham.

 Saturday, we went to a birthday party for Hayden's classmate.  I got a taste of what it must be like to have a classroom of mostly boys.  While only about 1/3 of the class was there, it was fairly representative with about 7 boys and 1 girl.  European birthday parties are a bit different.  First of all, it's typical for parents to drop off their children and leave.  We were a bit on the fence whether to stay or go, and in the end, decided to stay.  I have to say, it's quite brave of the hosting parents to be willing to watch a bunch of 3 yr olds!  Not to mention 3 yr olds who have been given way too much sugar!  

There was SO much candy (prizes for all the games) and cake and juice and hot chocolate to go around.  We let Hayden enjoy it all, but we never really give him any of that on a normal day.  He has maybe had juice a couple of times and only had hot chocolate as a treat during our ski vacation.  I was a bit relieved when he actually passed on the hot chocolate and juice and asked for milk and when he didn't finish his cake.  :)

My budding artist handmade the birthday card for his classmate, Guiliano, decorating it with police cars, trucks and trailers.  He even taped up the "gift card" (so I couldn't get photos of the inside pictures).  I think he's pretty talented for his age - I think he gets this from Marty, as I am definitely not very artistic!

 Marty and I went out to dinner Saturday night - a real treat and something we should probably do a little more often!  We had a delicious 3-course meal and both enjoyed the local specialty, filets du perche - this time with a lemon cream sauce (and tasted better than it looks).  

Today, we took Hayden rock climbing at an indoor gym that we have discovered.  It's a great gym and this was only Hayden's second time climbing, but he did such a great job and I was so proud of him!  With every climb, he went higher and higher, to about 25 ft high.  We were both pretty impressed by some of his moves - he is definitely a natural!  Neither Marty nor I climbed, because then we would have two boys unattended.  But, this place is so close to us, that we are hoping to come back regularly!

Today, our little Beckham celebrates his Half Birthday!  I cannot believe it's been six months already!  It definitely goes faster the second time around and I know very soon, we will be chasing after him.  He loves to be on his feet and whenever he is sitting, he has started to rock back and forth as if to say, "let me down, I want to move!"

We were a bit busy today, so I didn't get his official 6 mo photos taken today, but before we left for climbing, I took a few snaps as he happily waited for us to get ready to go.

We are so unbelievably blessed to both of these wonderful boys in our lives!