The Boy Turns 4

Im sad to report that Pep turned 4. ;) Im also sad to report that his birthday was fairly anticlimactic and I feel horrible about how things turned out but he really didn't seem to mind.
His birthday was spent in Utah, which was good. However Andrew was still in Illinois, which was bad. We kept it extremely low key. All the boy wanted to do for his birthday was go for a hike up in the foothills and so we packed a lunch and went with Grandma and Aunt Amy and Wyatt and AlDee to the crystal pits. It really was a blast.
My Dad wanted to do something for all of the kids (since they couldn't be there for AnDee or Isaac's) and so instead of just doing a party for Pep we did one for all 3 of them. We had cousins and friends over and we had a cake with candles on different sides for each of the kids. We sang Happy Birthday to all of them and they all got to blow out their candles... which was hands down Peps FAVORITE part.
We didn't do any presents because we planned on doing a birthday celebration for just Pep when we got back to Illinois so Andrew could be a part of it.
When we got home to Illinois we took Pep out to Target where he picked out his present. He choose a marble run and it has been a big hit at our house. My dad went to the bakery and bought a HUGE Thomas the Train cake (We are talking disgustingly huge. Ridiculous.) We had no idea it was going to be as big as it was. Luckily, after great effort from our family to eat it (and only making a tiny dent) Andrew took it to work were the people will eat anything and they finished it off for us.
Here is the worst part of the birthday fail...

This is the only picture I got of Pep on his birthday.

And this is the only picture I got of any of the "celebratory" stuff... The cake... after the kids had already picked all the stuff off of it.

I failed. Big time. Luckily my son is very forgiving and never even thought anything of it.
I absolutely adore this boy. He is so smart and so stinking funny. He keeps me on my toes and has a bit of a temper but I love it. He is sweet and has started to take very good care of his little brother and his sister whenever he can. He is still obsessed with trains and Im totally ok with it. He has made our entire family avid train lovers. He is grumpy and stubborn but its hilarious. There is something so unique about him that I cannot put in to words. He is not your average kid. His mind works differently and it is beautiful and amazing and totally inspiring. If you haven't ever had the chance to spend real time with him, you need to. He. Is. The. Coolest.