Emmett Turns 4 years Old

It's too bad he will be a little too young to understand the crazy times we were living in during this, his fourth year on the planet, but hopefully he appreciates how unique a time it was for us.

In preparation for his birthday we were planning and trying to think of a way to make being home as fun as possible. Although, in reality we usually do birthdays at home. I think it is just the mindset that because we have been stuck here for 500 billion days, we wanted to make it feel special. So we decided to make a homemade pinata. Dad ventured out and braved going to the store to get a big balloon. We got the past all ready and prepped everything. It took quite awhile because Emmett and August were the main paper mache-ers. Still it was definitely memorable.

It bore a striking resemblance to the floating head from the 80's classic Big Trouble in Little Chinatown...anyone?

Anyways...we hung it up overnight and the next day it was still a little damp in spots. So we hung it outside in between the legs of a ladder to dry. Another moment I was thoroughly impressed with Brent's knot tying skills. However, Brayden let the dogs out and they decided it was PINATA time. Shortly after their fun I found the massacred pinata pieces in the backyard...which meant we had to brave the store to get a new one.
Up until this point we have been ordering groceries online and doing the no-contact pick up. So this was a little nerve wrecking and exciting to go out.
We ended up getting a giant 3 foot dinosaur pinata replacement. So it all worked out.
We also purchased a helium kit and lots of balloons. This was a fun activity to do with the birthday boy. He waddled out of bed and ran into the living room ready to "make balloons". He cut the strings while Dad filled them and I tied the strings. We ended up getting close to 40 balloons out of that little tank. Not too shabby. Emmett LOVES balloons, so this was the BEST to him.

Since his party was going to be outside we invited over the grandparents for some cornhole. Aunt Jen and Breanna also drove over from Portland to celebrate. It ended up being a very fun filled affair.

August had earned money while doing some intense yard work for us...and he really wanted to buy Emmett a gift. He spent, probably hours, looking for the right gift online. He got him a plastic Woody doll. It has been a huge hit. Emmett takes it everywhere. And it is wonderful to see how excited he was to really give his brother something that he picked out.

The remote control digger truck was a big hit too.

It was nice to feel somewhat normal. Even with the hand sanitizing and spraying down the guests with Lysol...