Joel

Cousin Joel turned 5 the other day and we were able to celebrate today. Joel is quite a character. His eyes and smiles make any heart melt. He's often very soft and sweet. He's so gentle with little ones. He takes his role as big brother very seriously. He chose an Increbibles birthday cake, likes Transformers, most Superheroes, and G.I. Joe. He's a performer too. He sings and dances but has a bashful side, so it's hard to catch him in those moments. He also has an interest in playing football one day. And you can tell he has characteristics of a teacher, and he can be so helpful.

Close friends to Joel brought a moon bounce. How perfect! The kids had a blast. They took turns -- little kids and then big kids. And they all got several turns.

We didn't get pictures of the big kids bouncing since Vanessa took lots of distracting between turns. When one turn was over, Daddy had to climb in and pull her out. So no, Adam didn't count as a big kid. But now that I think about it -- why didn't us old kids get turns?! :) (Joel's daddy, Phil, took his turn "napping" on it when the air was turned off. I almost had proof.)

Vanessa decided after her daddy pulled her out that she didn't want to wait so she was going to run away. She literally began running down the sidewalk, away from the house. I decided to let her keep going as I followed. I had even decided to let her run around the block, but when we got halfway, she spotted the swing in their backyard, so she made a quick B line for it. All in all, a good distraction till the next turn. If you ever wondered how to exhaust Vanessa -- give her unlimited access to a moon bounce. :)