Early in May we went to visit Will, Jessie, and Grant for Grant's 2nd birthday. Eli was just a little excited about going to see his cousin. They get to FaceTime with each other some every month, so it was a treat to actually be able to see each other in person.
When we got there, we were all pretty excited about getting to meet the newest member of our family, Brett Daniel. He was born in March and was just as precious as he could be!
This was Eli's reaction to seeing Brett for the first time. He didn't know what to think about this little guy.
We made our way outside to join everyone else. Grant was having a BLAST! Jessie decided to go with a fishing theme for Grant's birthday and had a kiddie swimming pool, water guns, and even little fish for the kids to play with and catch. All the kids had a great time "catching" the fish and then letting them go. Poor fish! I think they were all wishing for a quick and easy death rather than being at the hands of 10 toddlers.
Brett Daniel managed to come outside for a little bit, so all the baby hogs (myself included) descended on him :) He lives a long way from all of us, so we wanted to get our loving in on the little man :)
We all thought the little fish were a big deal until Jessie revealed her next big surprise-a petting zoo came to Grant's party complete with a pig, goats, rabbits, chicks, an alligator, and even a snake! All the kids and the adults had so much fun getting to pet and hold these animals.
Eli showed zero fear when it came to holding the animals. He loved getting to touch and hold all of them, especially the alligator.
Grant was not impressed with the alligator though and didn't want to have anything to do with it when his momma showed it to him.
Normally, I'm fine with any animals, but I did get a little creeped out when the animal guy brought out a big snake. I expected Eli to get a little creeped out as well, but he wasn't at all. He RAN to go see and touch the snake. Oh dear!
Then the animal guy decided to show how well snakes climb trees. Ummm, as if I wasn't creeped out before! I always knew not to go under trees when you're canoeing or fishing...now I know why. Ugh! Just looking at it again gives me the heebie jeebies! After Eli's snake handling experience, we had to have a talk with him and explain how this was a pet snake and it was okay to touch him, but he didn't need to pick up just any snake.
My two blue-eyed boys having fun at the birthday party :)
Then Jessie revealed her last and biggest surprise...a pony! All the kids got to take turns riding on the pony and they all loved it!
After the pony rides, it was time for water guns again. Grant decided to shoot his momma and got a big kick out of that.
Soon it was time for birthday cake! Jessie had someone make really cute fishing cupcakes for the party. They were pretty adorable!
We sang Happy Birthday to Grant and then everyone chowed down on cake. Yummy!
Then it was time to open up gifts. Grant didn't seem too interested in that, so Eli helped him a little bit since he had some experience.
Both boys took turns riding on Grant's John Deere tractor after all the presents were opened. Eli doesn't have one of these, in fact, he doesn't have anything motorized, and he really enjoyed playing with it. We had to set the timer in order to get him to leave the party because he was having so much fun.
Great job on the party, Jessie and Will! Happy Birthday, Grant! I can't believe you're already 2 years old! Where did the time go? Thanks for inviting us to your birthday party! We had so much fun! We love you very much!
