Hadley is 6!

On June 2nd, 2011 Finley was an only-kid and I had a giant stomach.

Grandpa took him home for a nap and in his sleep he became a big brother!

The face I fell in love with...and thankfully, she has only gotten cuter. Let's be real, she wasn't super cute in the beginning 😉

Hadley was so teeny...

...and we've loved her since the beginning.

She unhappily turned one...

...kidding, she was excited to be one.

Two...

...three...

...four...

...five...

...last sleep as a 5 year old (bonus sleepover w/ me because Patrick was gone)...

...and finally 6!

I woke Hadley up telling her she was 6 years old, she immediately popped up and asked if she looked taller. Of course you do 😉 She said it felt kinda weird to be 6, but she liked it. She's such a sweet birthday girl, she shared her birthday w/ Finley at school. Since he's a summer birthday, we opted to bring treats for both on Hadley's birthday. He proudly wore his Nerf Gun shirt, we will celebrate his birthday w/ friends in late July w/ a Nerf Gun Party.

Both kids brought Dunkin' Donuts for their classes. Little did I know, June 2nd is also National Donut Day, I was not the only person at DD that morning - thankfully, I'd preordered their favorites ahead of time!

After school, we went to the public library to join the Summer Reading Program. Finley is highly motivated by contests/incentives and was desperate to join the minute the program started.

We then walked to our new old-school ice cream shop for dinner...ice cream for dinner totally works on a birthday 😋 The ice cream did not disappoint, VERY good and we'll definitely be back this summer!

Selfies w/ my silly birthday girl, ice cream beard too.

And then she waited for Patrick to get home from Texas.

After a painful 45 minutes of waiting, it was time for presents.

Finley played-up in kid-pitch again and he does OK hanging w/ the bigger boys. This was his third kid-pitch game (the team has some injuries, so he's subbing only as needed). He played right field, third base, and short stop. The cons of kid-pitch, the games are later, they travel to neighboring communities, and it's kinda s-l-o-w as it can take a while for good pitches and the players often strike out.

In the last kid-pitch game, Finley got hit w/ a pitch, so he's a little timid to bat. You can see him flinching in some of these pictures.

But it was totally cool to play under the lights.

Back to his regular team - Dragons!

Unfortunately I wasn't holding my camera for his best play - he caught a pop fly and literally finished it off on the ground w/ a roll. He shot his glove up and let out a cheer I caught it, woo hoo! I'm pretty sure he was just as surprised as the rest of us, it was awesome! 

Hadley was ready to hatch her Hatchimal...

...it didn't take long and it started to peck it's way out.

A Hatchimal is a weird interactive penguin that requires some care. It gets sick, it talks a little, it walks, it likes to be tickled, it laughs, it gets the hiccups and you can put it to sleep. Like any new mother, Hadley immediately set up the cradle in her bedroom. (Thankfully it's eyes don't glow as creepy as these pictures look.) She's now trying to name him/her, so far it's been called Eagle and Sullivan, and this morning she said she's trying to think of a new cuter name. He/she has come everywhere w/ us (except church, he's kinda noisy so I made him stay in the car).

Finley has really wanted to ride his bike to the ballpark. He was set to ride out for Hadley's game and then got nervous. He wanted me to follow in my car. I obliged and looked stalkerish as I slowly drove right behind him. Truthfully, I was OK w/ it, having him ride alone made me nervous too. It's only 1.4 miles, but he has to cross a weird turn/intersection and the cars are going 35.

He did well and stayed to the side of the road, he was very proud of himself too!

Of course Little Sister then wanted to ride her bike to the ballpark too. So we rode out for Finley's practice.

Tball - thankfully this game brought out more ball-playing and less sand-playing.

Chit-chatting on 3rd before she ran home.

Literally chasing runners to tag them out. In our tball league, everyone bats and no one gets out. Even if you do, you stay on base and get to make your way home.

It's become tradition that only Grandpa can give birthday spankings. I offered on Friday morning and was turned down because Grandpa will do it! And he did, all 6 w/ a pinch to grow an inch.

Straight from the ball field to the soccer field.

It was Hadley's last game as a Blueberry and actually her last game for now. She had a great game (5 goals) and played like she used to. Sign-up for fall soccer is right now and she's not fully committed. She kinda wants to play, but usually she answers no. Maybe after a year off she'll want to play again, she's super cute out there and does well (when she tries), so I hate to think it's over for now.

My book worm reading lots for the Summer Reading Program!

Saturday was hot-hot, the kids are really into kayaking, so we went to Grandpa & Grandma's to cool off.

We had dinner and cupcakes for the birthday girl. She will celebrate one more time w/ friends at a roller skating party in two weeks.

Sunday was the end-of-year Cub Scout picnic! Finley (& Patrick) will go to Cub World in August and in the fall Finley & Nicholas will be joining a new Pack (long story).

Sunday was hot-hot too, so more kayaking and a little swimming to finish off the weekend. 

Josie got her own life jacket. She really likes to swim, but after a recent incident of chasing geese too far out (Grandpa was getting ready to go in after her), she now wears her own life jacket.

I'm sure she hates it, but it makes us feel better 😏

Kids have school today, and tomorrow I'm helping at their year-end carnival, so this is my last quiet day. They are sooooo ready for summer vacay, we have lots of fun things planned and a break in the routine is welcomed. Bring on summer!