6

 Monday (July 21), our Luke turned the big SIX!  Yep, Luke is 6.  I feel like it was monumental.  First, he's matured a lot in the last year!  Waiting until he was 6 to have him start kindergarten was a good decision on our part for him.  This summer, he's lost his first tooth & now has glasses.  He's done awesome at taking care of his glasses.

And, like I just mentioned, in just a few weeks, he'll start kindergarten.  In fact, starting this evening/tomorrow morning, we've started working on going to bed earlier/getting up earlier!

Anyways, here's Luke's "6" pic from last week!

That evening, we went into the bigger city (than our's) near us to buy Luke some new shoes for his birthday/school starting.  Unfortunately, the shoes we were wanting weren't yet available.  So, he walked away that evening with only the promise of a pair to come.

Unfortunately for Luke on his birthday, his sister *did* get a pair of shoes.  I hadn't planned on buying her any, but just for fun, I had her feet measured.  Oops...she was seriously wearing shoes 2 sizes too small for her.  So, she did get a pair, and they're awfully cute!

Marc met us for supper, and then, Kate & I headed home. Marc & Luke went to a baseball game -- a first for Luke.  It was on his summer list, and on his birthday, it happened to be dollar night.  SCORE!  So, for $2, Marc & Luke had a fun birthday evening, AND an item was crossed off of Luke's list.

Because of scheduling, we actually didn't have Luke's party until last night (Sunday, the 27th).

Remember, I don't really decorate -- not at all for this party.  We don't have a huge family, and we haven't yet gotten into the "friend" party thing (Luke hasn't asked; we haven't suggested it to him).

SO, our family party was dinner, dessert, and a trip to our local sprinkler/splash park.

No pic of dinner...but, we had grilled burgers/hot dogs, chips, my mom's super-duper awesome potato salad, a hearty vegetable salad....

Then, it was time for dessert.  Luke wanted a school bus on a cake since school's about to start...

Then, it was time for Luke to open his presents....

From his Papa & Grandma Friesen (Marc's parents), Luke received a couple of books on the states of the USA (Luke likes information)....

As a quick side note -- Kate was completely entertained with boxes & wrapping paper during this process.  Can you tell she's an early 2 year-old?

Awhile back, Luke had asked my brother & sister-in-law (and his cousins) for change -- just change.  He said he needed change to jingle in his pocket.  So, they gave him a bag of change. Awesome!

Marc & I gave him a Bible.  It's his first "real" Bible.  He needs it for kindergarten.  He was excited.  He's been asking about which Bible he'd be taking to school.  Well, at the party, Luke got his answer.

My parents (Papa & Grandma Andover) gave him a fishing pole, a box to collect rocks, a book on rocks, and a nature walk bag (since we do a lot of nature walks)....

After the partying was over at our house, the party continued for the kiddos to play at our local sprinkler/splash park.  Our little family, unfortunately, hadn't been there yet this summer -- sadly.  Obviously, Kate doesn't remember it from last summer.  It took her approximately 50 seconds to see her brother & cousins having a good time to decide to join in on the fun!  We're biased, we know, but we found her to be 110% cute at this park!  And, as for Luke, he's come a long ways at this park in the last several years!  This boy used to be the one who'd merely run the perimeter of the park, barely getting wet.  Last summer, he didn't even necessarily want his hair wet.  Now, he was all over & all wet -- including his hair!