~~ The Halsted Herald~~: Birthday Bash and Fourth Festivities

June and half of July have flown by! These past 6 weeks have been incredibly busy between all the swim camps, swim lessons, pottery camps, pool fun, annual check-ups, play dates and all the other day-to-day activities.

To be honest, the blog has taken a back seat while we’ve been out enjoying the summer sun.

And during that time, Grayson had a birthday, got his bike up and running (Thanks GiGi and Grampa!) and we celebrated the Fourth of July in true Halsted style.
So, Grayson is 4 years old now.

Wait… 4!?! The years are flying by. Before I know it I’ll be shipping this cute kiddo off to college.

He is still extremely tall and slender…98^th and 67^th percentile, respectively. And the doctor still predicts he will be at least 6’3”. I can’t wait to see if her forecast is accurate.

For his birthday celebration, we had his BFF, Julia, over to enjoy his new bounce house.

Last year we bought him a pretty awesome little house. This year, Daddy upped the ante and bought him a WATER SLIDE bounce house. This thing is so amazing. The hours of fun, smiles, giggles and splashes are already in the hundreds. The munchkins LOVE it. Annnnnnd, Momma does too. I’ve jumped in with them on numerous occasions. Honestly, how can I resist??

For the Fourth, Dan went all out. Again. As usual, we paired up with our best friends, who also purchased an insane amount of ammo, and had an incredible time. Let’s put it this way….when Lieutenant JimBob Fire Marshal stops by your house to ensure you’re not lighting commercial grade bombs, you know you’re igniting some kick-butt pyrotechnics. So.Much.Fun!

Dan always purchases really amazing explosives, but this year, the true favorite among the kids was the parachute extravaganza. This 1 cake blasted off over 30, yes over 30, parachutes. It was like the 12 plane Herky formation, flying above and dropping down massive quantities of paratroopers. It was nothing short of magnificent.

As usual, I’ve attached a ton of pictures and a couple videos too! I hope everyone has had an equally wonderful 6 weeks of summer!

First day of school, August 2013