Birthday celebrations and fun!

 Erin and Halle had a big 'ol fun birthday week!  It started out at my parent's house a few days before their birthday because my dad was going to be out of town on their big day.  They were very excited and surprised to get to participated in an honored Feekin tradition - the string box!!

My dad strung yarn around his house and the yard that Erin and Halle had to follow to lead the way to their big gift.

When they found the box, they had to pull the string through an opening to reveal gifts attached to the string along the way.  They had a great time seeing what was pulled up each time!

On their actual birthday, we had some friends (Katy and her girls, Riley & Audrey) visiting, so it was fun to share in the celebration with them too!  We had people over for happy hour and the kids got to open some gifts and have cupcakes!

This year the kids all helped make Erin and Halle's birthday cupcakes and they decorated them too!  They especially enjoyed the letters to be able to spell their name.  Halle was adorable and gave her "Halle" cupcake to Bob-O "because I love him and he can have it."  **melt**

That evening the kids got to make their own pizza for dinner!!

On July 4th, Buda had a festival at the park in town.  Everything was basically free, so the kids got to participate in bunches of fun stuff and we topped off the hot day with sno-cones!

The weekend following their birthday, the Gates fam all piled into the house to enjoy one last celebration with Erin and Halle.  The kids had a great time playing together and it was so fun to see how well they all do.

One of the mornings everyone was in town, the guys took the 4 girls and Carter to Austin to ride the Zilker train and canoeing!  Didn't get an photos of canoeing, but they had a great time!

One of the most favorite things received this birthday was the extensive addition to our train set!  All three kids have been entertained for hours with this activity.  Thanks Auntie and Uncle Ty!

We recently visited the Buda library and got a library card for the kids to be able to choose and check out books.  It has been a favorite activity on these hot days.  That, and banana splits of course!