Lucky Seven

Will is 7 today!  7 seems so old!  He has grown up so much in the past year, becoming a reader and a teammate on his baseball team.  His fall ball team is mostly the same kids and same coaches as spring and they are trying to keep those kids together for as long as possible.  At 7, Will loves sports, but especially baseball.  He loves animals and is especially interested in learning about dog breeds and ocean animals.  

He is still an excellent reader and writer and loves to write books.  He enjoys Lego building, chicken finger eating and anything he can dip in ranch.  He still struggles with trying to be perfect and being OK with making a mistake, but we're working on it.  He has grown to love his bike this summer and is allowed to ride on our street alone.  He frequently goes for short rides alone.  

Mom's camera is broken so we had to borrow one for this photo shoot.  It wasn't easy to learn a new camera while doing a birthday photo shoot.  We made do in the treehouse.  

Will's favorite movies include The Lego Movie, Homeward Bound, Dolphin Tale, The Sandlot, and Beethoven.  We're still looking for Free Willy.  He loves to read the chapter book series Puppy Place and Ballpark Mysteries.  Baseball and Dogs.  

He still, STILL hates getting his nails cut, likes the barber shop, does not like lollipops or Popsicles.  This summer, he went to Great Wolf Lodge, the lake, swim camp, Lacrosse camp, and the Y almost every single day.  He helped Mom plan her Kidz Fit classes every week.  It's going to be strange when he goes back to school in a few weeks.  Mom and Kylie are going to miss him.  

I hope the camera is better by the first day of school for this handsome kid.  Happy Birthday to Will!  

Will's Celebration

This year, for Will's birthday, he didn't want a big party.  He asked for a tree house and a trip to King's Dominion with some friends.  He invited 4 friends but Aiden couldn't make it, so we ended up with 3 friends plus Will and three Moms.  It was perfect.  The weather was cloudy and not hot at all.  The boys watched the Lego Movie on the way to the park and we packed a Chick-Fil-A lunch to enjoy at the picnic pavilion outside the gates before entering.  

Will is a true thrill seeker and a dare devil who fancies himself invincible.  He tried to act bored on the first few rides we tried, like they were too "little kid" for him.  He kept asking when we were getting to the real rides.  

So, we abandoned the younger kid area in favor of the big rides.  There was spinning, twisting, turning, flying and roller coasters.  

Then he announced he'd like to do the Drop Tower.  It goes up 272 feet in the air and drops its riders at 73 MPH.  Will and Miss Nicky did this with very little hesitation.  Will's buddies all stayed on the ground, shouting things at him like, "Tell me your last words!" and, "I hope you don't die, but you're going to die!"  It created quite a crowd cheering for this just tall enough to ride rider.  

There they go!

Will actually peered over his shoes as it went up.  Oh. My.  God.  It was frightening to watch.

Here they come!

Nicky was checking to see if Will was breathing.  He was!  

So shocked!

After that, they went on a crazy roller coaster called the Rebel Yell.  Mom accidentally took the wrong path up to the coaster and got separated from the group, so they all rode it without her.  Oops.  After that, we played one game where Brad won a giant donut.

Then we hit the waterpark (no pictures there).  It was pretty cold in the waterpark because it really was a cloudy day.  We did a few water attractions and then headed for more rides.  

We planned to go from 10-3 but ended up staying until 5.  The boys LOVED every minute of their day.  We ended up inviting the boys' parents and sisters to join us for pizza and chicken fingers back at the treehouse/real house.  

Dad and Kylie had decorated the treehouse while we were gone for the day.

Then it was time for homemade ice cream cake!  Yummy!  

In true Will fashion, he did not smile while everyone sang to him and then he waved out the candle instead of blowing it out.  Always his own way.