A Look into a Day at the Nix': 5 YEAR OLD ELIJAH!!!!!!

Completely unbelievable that Elijah is now 5 years old. I just think about how far we have come as a family in the last five years. I just think about how much Elijah has changed! I think this year for Elijah has been an awesome year of development. He makes me laugh all the time with his weird humor and childlike innocence. The sad part about every year that passes is that he is becoming less and less innocent and turning into a individual. I am thankful that with age he has become a bit more compassionate and has certainly made him a little more of a snuggle bug. The major changes this year I have seen are his speech/vocabulary have taken off, physically he has gotten a ton stronger, he is willing to try new foods sometimes, made huge advances in becoming a swimmer, and has turned into a MAJOR BOOK LOVER. Elijah LOVES LOVES books. He looks at books in the morning before going to school, when he gets to school, before bed, and he even sleeps with his favorites at the end of his bed. I am so thankful that he has such a love for books.

We haven't ever really thrown a big birthday party with a zillion kids before and we decided not to start this year either. We already now that Jaron will most likely be gone for Elijah's birthday next year, so we wanted to do something as a family and then do a small home party. So on Elijah birthday he had a school field trip, so I put Ava and Rowan into drop in care for the day and went on a fun FT with Elijah's class. We visited the bus terminal and went on a ride. After the ride we got to go through the bus wash which I think Elijah really enjoyed. After the bus ride we headed to a local gardens for lunch where Elijah and his class got to take part in cupcakes for Elijah's birthday. After the FT I attempted to take Elijah to the pool for a swim, but the pool was closed. So since Elijah LOVES books we headed over to the library for a while, then a hair cut, and McDonald's. I had so much fun spending the day with my big 5 year old.

That evening we opened presents and cards that we received in the mail. Thanks everyone for sending things in the mail. The kids LOVED IT!

On Saturday we headed to Sea Life Park for Elijah and Jaron to take part in the Dolphin Encounter. Overall they had a great time and I am glad that we celebrated Elijah's birthday by doing an activity and not just a ton of gifts.

After Sea Life Park we came home to get prepared for a few friends to come over for pizza and cake. Jacob one of Elijah's only real friends came, our neighbor girl Emily came so Ava could have someone to play with, our friends Michelle and Lucas came, and so did our other neighbors Carla and Edmond (with their little guy Riley). We had fun letting the kids run wild and just enjoying a small laid back party. Elijah loved his spider-man cake that Michelle made and all the gifts that he received.

Speaking of here is a list:
Coloring book
Maze Book
3 New books
Transformer
Bakguan
Velcro Target Vest
Iron Man Mask
Dinosaur Hat
Little Iron Man
Woody (From Toy Story)
Bubbles
Hooked on Phonics
$60

Jaron bought some stuff for him and unfortunately it never got wrapped because he found it in the car. We are going to have to get better at hiding stuff, because the kids are getting to smart for their own good.

Elijah being his silly self. Can you believe I got such a great shot (meaning the first picture) between all this silliness.

Elijah new favorite thing to do. Climb the walls...He calls it his COOL TRICK! Jaron still has the monkey in him too...

Bus Field Trip with school. He even got a Lei from his teach assistant for his birthday.

The gardens where we ate lunch. Isn't it beautiful. These are some of the oldest Monkey Pod tress on the island.

The party!!! Elijah and Jacob...aren't the ALL so cute!

Michelle's master piece. The only problem is here in Hawaii everything melts...so you gotta eat quick.

Happy Birthday Elijah!!!

He annouced, " I will blow my candles out myself"

Rowan was sleeping...but still a family picture

Riley such a cutie...he is our new neighbor boy.

IRON MAN AND SPIDER-MAN
What more do you need?

Dolphin Encounter
I was really far away when I took these pictures, but I was able to crop them and make them close ups. They got to touch the dolphin several times. Elijah didn't want the dolphin to give a kiss because he said, "The dolphin was stinky". :)