Ayden's 6th Bootcamp Birthday

 For Ayden's 6th birthday he was able to pick 6 of his friends to invite to his birthday

 he really had 7 that he wanted to invite so we gave in and let him invite 7

 The morning of his birthday, March 26th daddy made him toast, eggs & sausage

 Make a wish

 blow the candle out

 Now get ready for a great day!..... wake up first :)

 Ayden wanted an "army man" birthday we we started planning months earlier

 we rounded up all of his military toys for decorations

 got a camouflage banner and printed his name in circles and added it.

 we picked up camouflage & orange tables cloths

 Everyone that came "suited up" in a mask, military tag with their name and age, a tattoo and a medal of honor

 The tattoos were a big hit

 I became a pro at putting them on by the 20th one

 We had his party at Pizza Village so not only did they have Ayden's favorite food 

but also tons of games for the kids to play!

We all dressed in our "army man" clothes for Ayden

 Brock said that Batman counts as an "army man"

 

 Joey was so sweet to blow up about 30 birthday balloons.

 He thought I was smart & sweet because I had already attached little army men to every string before hand

 A few of the balloons were tangled up from the 30 minute ride to Mount Olive

but thankfully grandparents jumped in to help

 When the kids "checked in" they each got two quarters and were able to play a game first. 

We had been saving quarters for about two months so we'd have plenty for his birthday.

 

 

 Ayden was so excited when his friends started arriving!

It was nice to have family there too

 

 Even papa Arbeau participated in the "suiting up"

 After a couple games it was time to eat

Everyone was able to get buffett so they had a choice of pizza, spaghetti, salad, or more pizza!

 

 

 

 

 

Next it was time for more games

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Then cake & icecream!

 

 

 

 

and last but not least presents time!

 

 

 

 

 It was so special because this year was the first time that Ayden could read most of the 

birthday cards all by himself

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 After all the guests left and everything was cleaned up 

we had one more surprise for Ayden and Brock.

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They have been itching to see Mr. Neal's secret batman room so we made a pit stop on the way home

 they were in complete shock of this room!

 

 

 Neal is our Chief Operating Officer at Andy's where he has been a loyal employee for many, many years 

but I think his loyalty to Batman may just be tip for tap.

 The black and white photo is a picture of Neal when he was a little boy and the collection first started

 and now this spot is the only open spot in the entire room

 literally from the floor to the ceiling!

 we told the kids "don't touch anything"

 so about 3 minutes in when their little fingers started wondering we said "ok, time to go"

 the boys gave it a "thumbs up" for the coolest room ever!

 we got home a little after 9:00 and Bethany and Brock headed straight for bed

.... but not Ayden. He had to inspect and put together every gift before his head hit the pillow 

(he is just like his mom, can't go to sleep till the project is done)

 Ayden also had a few cards that had came in the mail to open

 

 

 we got to bed about 11:00 and called it a night.

It was a great day!

Happy Birthday my sweet and energetic Ayden! We love you so much!

Sometimes it feels like we've been through bootcamp and back but it's all worth it and I wouldn't trade our family for anything!