Colton's 8th Birthday

We left Granddad's early Monday morning (if you know me at all, you'll know this was highly unusual and that I've met a quota), and made an early stop in downtown Spokane to meet Grandma Greta and Papa Glen for goodbyes before they left for the Seattle area--they treated us to mocha and donuts!  The boys were awake for the whole drive, and very cheerful and giggly companions--my favorite kind.  We reached their cousins' house right before 10 am, and Katie and Colton wore the boys out in no time.  Pretty soon, Bryce and Deacon had perched themselves on the sofa for a showing of Monsters vs Aliens.
When their dad walked in soon after they had a wrestling match (of course taking in the movie when tagged out--see Deacon).

The boys were very excited to show Colton their new cap guns. First Colton and Deacon tried to figure them out--then finally consented to some expert advice when Phil and Bryce turned up shootin'!

Dan and Kristine put on a great BBQ (shish-kabobs to die for), and then joy of joys, the Star Wars cake debuted.
(Katie's class recently took a tour of some old mission and she purchased that adorable pink bonnet--I loved that stuff when I was kid!)

Bryce and Deacon heeded instruction and kept their distance during Colton's gift opening.  Deacon eventually snookered Papa Ron into a seat near the action and got to check out the gifts.  Bryce continually popped his head into the camera frame, asking when it was his turn to take a photo--and he caught the cute photo of Haylee helping Colton.

Somewhere in the midst of this fun Nana Judy, Phil, Ian, and I took all the kids into the pool--and thankfully their are no photos of that.

Finally, we had to wrap up the fun, toting out our fading but still pleasant children around 4:55.  I took the awake photos of them at 5:00, and by 5:07 I was able to take the asleep shot.
After being away from Phil for the weekend, it was treat to have an uninterrupted car ride to catch up.  Being dutifully agreeable, the kiddos slept the whole way home, played for an hour and a half, then went to bed at 9:30 for the night.  A good end to a great weekend!