Cannon's Birthday

Cannon turned six this year and he had three birthday parties! The first one was a family party when we were in Austin. And I am so sad that I forgot to take pictures!

The second "party" was on his actual birthday. He went to school that day and I had made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for his class birthday snack. He also got a birthday crown from his teacher. For dinner that night we said he could pick a restaurant and he picked Torchy's for dinner and Sonic for dessert. He got to open his present from us, which was Magna Tiles. He loves to build and create things and they have been played with everyday since then!

The third party we had was with his friends. He pretty much planned the whole thing himself. He really just wanted to have all his friends come over and play, so that's what we did! He wanted to set up an obstacle course in the backyard, do face painting, play outside, and have food. It was so simple, but so much fun! It really turned out perfect. The kids played in the backyard most of the time and we had fruit kabobs and juice boxes for snacks. Then Ryan picked up pizza for lunch and then we had his cake (a homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream cake - by his request). They had so much fun running and playing and inventing their own games.

Cheetahs, Hello Kitty, and a Ninja Turtle

They made their own  obstacle course and lined themselves up. Kids are so competent!

The kids that were able to come were: Treyson, Jay, Luke, Kai, Rorey, Jonathan, Hunter, Eli, Nathan, and Ryker. All the kids seemed to have fun and Cannon did not want anyone to go home.

Every year I say this, but I can't believe how old Cannon is! I can't believe I have a six year old! He has so many wonderful qualities and his personality seems to manifest itself more and more each year. Here are some things that describe Cannon:

• He is athletic (not a quality that come from me or Ryan); he loves sports, particularly swimming, biking, and running.
• He has his own ideas about things and it's very hard to persuade him otherwise.
• He likes to be a leader and likes to make decisions about things. His school teacher said that he became a leader in the classroom.
• He loves his friends and he thrives on being with other children. His best friend is Treyson, who lives on our street. They like to ride bikes together, play in the woods across the street, and make up new ways to play.
• He likes to invent and create things. He spends hours each day building with Legos. He likes to buy sets, but he also likes to use those pieces to make his own creations.
• He is obsessed with the Broadway version of Lion King. He loves to watch videos of how they make the costumes and he loves to listen to the songs. He's actually never seen the Disney movie, but became interested in it because of a play book that I kept from when Ryan and I saw the Broadway play a long time ago.
• He is intense and sensitive. He is such a deep thinker and feels emotions so deeply, so much so that it's hard for him to transition or to come up with a new solution when things aren't going the way they want. His feelings can get hurt easily and it's very easy for him to get nightmares from movies (which is why he doesn't watch much TV or movies). He also asks very deep and spiritual questions and we have had very deep conversations.
• He is really into telling "tall tales" maybe because he doesn't want to get in trouble or maybe because he enjoys making up stories to get reactions out of people.
• Family is so important to him and he loves to spend time with relatives.
• He loves animals and seems to create special bonds with dogs, like Dyson.
• He likes to travel and visit new places.
• He is very independent. He likes to play in the front yard by himself and ride his bike with Treyson. He decided that he is old enough to fly on an airplane alone. In his mind, he has been planning a trip in which he flies to Ohio, alone, to see Cole. After thinking about it, he decided it would be better to fly from NYC instead of from Austin, because (in his own words) "if I fly from Austin I might have to take two planes and if I fly from New York I will only have to take one and I think one plane is better for me."

We love Cannon so much! In many ways, he is so different from Ryan and me, but because of that he is able to teach us so much about life.

NYC

We took a family trip to NYC mid-April, for a few reasons.  Ryan had a business trip that week, plus his job interview.  Cannon and I accompanied him and we scoped out different neighborhoods and parks.  I had a feeling that we might be moving there and so we toured the city, not just as tourists, but as future residents.  It turns out that Ryan was offered the position and we felt right about accepting it! I've been researching NYC neighborhoods, schools, and family living for the last five months just in case we would be moving there.  I am glad that I have all of that accomplished so we can focus on looking for housing in the neighborhoods that will work for us. I feel completely at peace knowing that everything will come into place at the right time.

The week that we were there was their first warm week of the year.  Having a long cold winter will definitely be something that I am going to have to get used to! I am not a fan of cold weather, however I am also getting tired of the summer heat here (and when we lived in Florida).  I am very excited about our upcoming move and our new adventure! And another big plus is that Ryan won't be travelling anymore! I will be very happy to have him home every night!

Very early flight!

The view from our room at the Double Tree

St. Patrick's Cathedral

We took the Staten Island Ferry to get a view of the Statue of Liberty

Our view of Manhattan from the ferry

Random dog on the subway! But this picture makes me happy because I know how much Cannon loves animals!

He found two boys to play with at Washington Market Park in Tribeca

Grabbing a hot dog from a stand in Central Park--take notice of the other hot dog (that he also stopped to pet)

We went to a restaurant that only serves macaroni and cheese! Complementary Lactaid pills!

A highlight was going to the Empire State Building! Cannon said he felt like the tallest person in the world! He really loved being up there!

We pet this bunny at Fort Tryon park!

 

Cannon climbed to the top of this cliff! He loves climbing so much!

 

Another highlight was visiting the American Museum of Natural History!

Of course M&M World...another of Cannon's favorites!

Our last morning there we played games in Bryant Park.  It was a perfect morning and I was so sad to leave!

Happenings Around Here

Once again, time has just flown by! Ryan is busy traveling again and is gone about every other week.  Cannon is enjoying school and I help out at Yogurtland on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 

The weather keeps changing and we had a cold winter (well, cold for Texas).  We've had lots of rain, but spring has definitely sprung now and we are taking advantage of being outside as much as possible. 

Static hair on the trampoline

 Cannon taught himself to read a few weeks ago and he has been interested in writing and figuring out how to spell words.  Here's his favorite sentence to write, "Mom sat in diarrhea."

 

 

 

 

In March we surprised Cannon with an overnight trip to Houston.  The purpose was to take him to see the Houston symphony play Star Wars. We all really enjoyed the symphony and he seemed very intrigued and captivated the whole time. He also had lots of questions and things to think about, in typical Cannon fashion. The symphony was on a Saturday so we got a hotel Friday night in Houston since Ryan was flying in there that night anyway. We got a hotel with a pool and Cannon enjoyed his first swim of the season. I think he was happy to be able to move his arm freely and without fear of hurting it.  On that note, his arm seems to be healing well and he doesn't have any problems using it. 

 

 

 The following week Ryan had a work trip to Houston and we decided to join him since it was Cannon's spring break. Each morning we would drop Ryan off at his office so I could use the car. We found a cool park called Donovan park and we ended up going to it a couple of times. We did more swimming at the hotel too. One day we went to a different park and ended up playing in the mud with our bare feet.

 

Houston Temple

 

 

 

 

Grimaldi's

 

 

 

Cannon has become friends with a kid named Treyson who lives up the street.  They pretty much play together every day and sometimes Treyson's older brother Tyler comes over to play with them too. They ride bikes together, explore the "forest" across the street, play Legos, and jump on the trampoline with the hose. This is just what he needed right now and it makes my mama heart happy to see him so fulfilled!

 

One night I went to the church for our Relief Society activity.  I got a text from Ryan saying that he couldn't wait to tell me about Cannon's shenanigans.  After I got home Ryan told me this story.  Treyson's mom got a text from her husband saying that Treyson was riding his bike outside naked.  The dad was at their older son's sport game and had received a text from our other neighbor who had spotted the boys. She said, no way, he's outside playing with Cannon. She went to check on them and sure enough, both boys were outside riding their bikes naked!!

Bike basket contents after playing outside with Treyson for 3 hours: water colors, paint brushes, a cup, Star Wars book, jet, paper, markers, cars, Legos, blocks, and a tin.

Cannon and Treyson jumping in the rain

 

 

 We had a garage sale and sold Cosmo! So now we are back to being a one car family.

 

 

Cannon's first time this season in Aunt Barbara's pool.  The water is still super cold, but Cannon thought it best to swim naked. 

 

 

 We spent last weekend in Austin. Ryan and I went on a date downtown on Thursday night.  We ate dinner at a Thai food truck and then walked over to another food truck place for dessert.  I think it was called Holy Cacao.

 

 

 

 Friday was a holiday so we went to our favorite toy store on South Lamar, Anna's Toy Depot, with the intention of buying some more Legos. For almost nine months Cannon had been saving his money to buy the Millennium Falcon. It costs $150 new and he had $78 saved. They had a used one at the toy store for $85 (not including the figures) and after considering his options (he really did think about it) he decided to purchase it. We floated the rest of the cost since it was a good deal and the guy threw in Chewbacca for free. Cannon was pretty pumped about it! Afterwards we met Claudine and the kids for lunch at the pizza place by their house and then to Amy's Ice Cream. It was so fun to catch up with them and to listen to the kids tell me about everything they are doing.

Saturday and Sunday we watched General Conference. For awhile, Cannon had been enjoying playing with his Millennium Falcon and then he was ready to take it apart.  That took a longer than I expected! He did start to build again, but we didn't have enough time to finish it before we had to go home.

We also brought his bike this time so he could ride on the dirt hills at our favorite park.

 

 

 

 

 Sunday was also Easter! That week Cannon and I had been watching the Bible videos about Christ's last week before His death and resurrection. I think he really got a lot out of that and it definitely sparked some great conversations.

It rained most of the day on Sunday so we did his Easter egg hunt inside. It doesn't seem as thrilling to find the eggs when you are an only child, but he still had fun.

Filling the Easter eggs with fun goodies!

He's very excited to find the contents of his basket!

 

 Then a very weird thing happened! I went outside to light the grill so I could cook the chicken for dinner. It's an old grill and you have to use the lighter to get it to go.  I've used this grill so many times that I don't need to read the words on the knobs to know what temperature I need (which is a good thing because all the words have faded off). When I went to light it a huge burst of flames shot out at my face, singing my bangs, eyebrows, and lashes! It definitely freaked me out, but I was mostly shocked and surprised that my skin was uninjured at all! I knew it got my hair because I could smell it and I saw black flying all around, but after the blast I was expecting to feel pain. But I didn't.  I just stood there for a moment thinking about it and then went in to look at my hair. Kylene did an oil treatment for my hair, which really helped a lot. Today I got my hair fixed and it looks a lot better!

Next week we go to NYC and Ryan will have three job interviews!

 

New style!