Nine

Alex turned nine in November.

I still can't believe he is half way to 18.

He celebrated his birthday party with three of his friends at a fun place called Fun City.

We opened presents and piled in the van for the drive.  

It was a little over an hour.

The boys ate lunch, played arcades and drove the cars.

After we went swimming.  The boys enjoyed the tube slide.

And before we left they attempted to rock climb.

For Alex's actual birthday, we had Uncle Joe and Aunt Diana over for dinner, ice cream and cake.

We ended up using Alex's cupcakes that were meant for his class treat as a cake,

as he couldn't pass out his cupcake because the cupcake policy was not made clear to us.

(Yes, they were store bought, but they were the wrong brand.)

Alex had a good attitude about it though and that's what counts.  :)

And they were yummy!

NINE!!!!!!!

(Don't mind the kitchen mess, we were in the process of getting new appliances.)

We tricked Alex and put one of his presents in an old box.  (A gift he had already received.)

I love his look of disappointment on the left and how happy he is on the right once he realizes our trick.

Shortly after Alex's birthday, Doug and the kids piled in the Van and headed to Utah for Thanksgiving.  

I couldn't go as I had to work so I had an entire week of "me" time. 

Of course, my family couldn't resist another reason to celebrate so Alex had

 another birthday celebration in Utah too.

And he and Doug even managed a little hike while in Utah.

So, there you have it.  We now have a 9 year old and it's a great age!