Happy 8th Birthday, Cole!

Cole - how is it possible you are 8 years old?  Your 8th birthday celebration started on the big day that you came into this world.  Pa went into work late so that he could take you to your favorite breakfast spot - The Original Pancake House.  You love their bacon and gluten-free toast!  And since you wake before the crack of dawn, a 6:30 am breakfast before school was just what you wanted! Big brother Owen even got to tag along. Pa dropped you off at home with a full tummy just before your bus arrived to take you to school.

For your birthday dinner, you choose your other favorite restaurant - Red Robin. You sure love eating out at Red Robin. You always order the exact same thing - a turkey burger with fries.

After dinner we headed home for your birthday dessert - peanut butter cups stacked 3 cups high!

This year for your birthday party, you requested a sports theme, specifically, a sports "ball" theme.  You love playing any sport that involves a ball - hitting, kicking, throwing, catching, bouncing - you love it all! You also wanted a small party with not too many guests so we partied for two straight days! As the first guests left, new ones would arrive. You loved being the center of attention all weekend long!

Cole's 8th Birthday Party Invitation

The house was decorated with balls, balloons and streamers.  You choose the party decorations and requested orange streamers - your favorite color!

Because your party was split into two days, you had two separate cakes which adorned a total of 16 different fondant balls.  Both were flourless chocolate cake with fudge filling.  YUM!

There was lots of playing, eating and present opening all weekend long!

Cole playing catch

Elliot and Rose swinging

Shane and Cole eating snacks

Nana Bev and Rose eating popcorn

Jess and Cole

Cole swinging outside

Cole and Aunt Donna playing tennis

Cousin Jaden and Rose eating dessert

Cole, Cousin Casey and Nana Judy playing baseball on the xBox

Cole and Nana Judy opening presents

Cole opening presents

Cole, Great Nana Dineen and Great Popi Dineen

After answering "I don't know" multiple times when asked what you wanted for your birthday, you made a last minute present request - a volleyball and net. And thankfully Nana Judy and Popi Dave were able to make that wish come true! You were overjoyed!

"A volleyball!"

"And a volleyball net! YES!!"

Cole and Nana Judy playing volley ball

You requested two games for your party.  The Pin-the-Ball-on-the-Glove game was a hit for all!

Owen pinning the ball on the glove

Rose pinning the ball on the glove

Nana Bev and Cole playing the game

But the piñata was not up your alley.  I should have known better!  You wanted nothing to do with smacking it with a stick.  It was much too loud and violent for your tastes.  Next time it'll be a pull-string piñata for you.  But you were kind enough to oblige your mom with a photo op of you pretending to hit the piñata.

Cole pretending to hit the piñata

Your siblings and cousins did the rest of the work. It was sure one tough piñata. After smacking it over and over, it finally fell off its rope and we resorted to throwing it on the floor to finally get the candy out!

Rose hitting the piñata

To end the weekend of birthday celebrations, you choose dinner out at, you guessed it, Red Robin (again!!)  This time, Nana Judy, Popi Dave, Uncle Jason, Great Nana Dineen and Great Popi Dineen were able to join us.  It was a great way to end your big birthday bash!

Great Nana Dineen, Rose, Cole, Nana Judy and Great Popi Dineen

Nana Judy, Cole and Popi Dave

Cole, you have grown into such a big boy!  Most days you are on your own agenda and not too happy when we must deter from your plans.  Your favorite thing to do at home is play downstairs.  Whenever you want to go down and play, you ask (several times a day), "What about downstairs?" You love playing in our unfinished basement - running around and hitting, throwing, kicking or bouncing a ball.  You go through several pairs of socks a week from all your basement play (a concrete floor can literally eat holes in the bottom of socks!)

Cole and Nana Bev running in the basement

When you're not on your feet, you are lying directly in front of the TV watching one of your usual shows like "Clifford the Big Red Dog".  Sitting on the couch and watching TV just doesn't work well for you, you must be in your favorite spot lying on the carpet as close as possible to the TV.  You lay there so much, you leave an little "Cole" outline in the carpet.

Another favorite spot of yours is at the kitchen island.  This is where you do all your iPad "work".  You love playing games on the iPad.  Although your interest is usually quite short lived and before we know it, you've deleted your latest app and are requesting a new one. You are always searching for new fun apps to play. When the weather is just right, you take the iPad outside to the deck. You love sitting on the deck, playing on the iPad and sipping your drink of choice - almond milk. You'll often request to eat your dinner on the deck, even when it's dark and chilly out. You sure love your deck time and are not at all happy about the winter weather around the corner.

You love music! You are always eager to get in the car and turn up the tunes. And boy, do you love to sing! Big brother is not a music fan and likes to complain about your music jam sessions, so you always ask before we load up, "Can I sing?" and my response is always, "Of course you can!" You like your music loud and tend to keep asking to turn the volume up higher and higher. If it was up to you, it just might be playing at maximum volume!

Nana Bev and Cole listening to his new cd

You are an early morning riser, getting up at the crack of dawn (and sometimes even before!) Getting up later than 6:00 am is considered "sleeping in" to you. You are typically up by 5:00 am and ready to get moving. There's no climbing back into bed or pushing the snooze button for you. Once you are up, you literally hop out of bed and are off running. Speaking of sleep, your favorite place to sleep is at Nana Judy and Popi Dave's house. You love your sleep overs at Nana and Popi's. You are always asking, "Can I go sleep at Nana's house?"

You are one silly little dude and love to make people laugh.  You're always clowning around, telling goofy stories and letting out big boisterous laughs.  And when you can get other people to join in your laughing, well, that's when you become even more silly.

You are such a sensitive kiddo.  You can't stand to see your siblings upset.  If one of them starts to cry, it's only a matter of seconds before your tears start to fall too.  The worst for you is saying "good-bye".  You hate good-byes so much that we avoid those words whenever you are around.  "See you soon!" works much better for your kind little heart.

Shane and Cole

You are our funny, sensitive, caring, and stubborn little boy.  We are so very blessed to celebrate another year with you! A very happy 8th birthday, Cole.  We can't wait to see what amazing things you accomplish this year!  We love you!