Jayna has been pretty nervous to try and ride her bike without training wheels. We convinced/forced her to try it a few weeks ago, and she was so nervous and wouldn't even give it a real try. But after we took the training wheels off her bike, we just never put them back on. She even went back to riding her strider bike a few times, which was really funny to watch with her long legs! Jayna is definitely our cautious child and likes to be sure she can do something before she gives it a chance. So in true Jayna style she just decided to ride her bike today. She actually said to me on Sunday "Mom, I have a feeling. I'm going to start riding a 2 wheeler now!" I didn't really think much of it, but today when we went outside to ride bikes she did just that! Gibb was SO disappointed that he wasn't here for it, and so was I! This is not something I would normally attempt on my own. She did really good and didn't fall at all. She rode all the way down the street and back. She was so excited, she kept yelling "Yeehaw!! Look at me! I'm riding a 2 wheeler!!" It's a good thing she decided to do it this week, or I think Kepler might have learned to ride his bike before her when he gets one for his birthday next week! :)

I don't know what happened to the video. Somehow when I put it on the computer and rotated it I lost the sound and it became bad quality, but you get the idea.

Kepler's "real" birthday isn't until the 24th. But we decided to have a little party for him with his friends before we move. We told Kepler that he wasn't actually going to be 4 yet, but we were just having his party before his birthday, so he started calling it his pretend birthday. It was so entertaining watching Kepler try to decide on a theme for his party. For a long time it was Lightning McQueen all the way, but thanks to all Jayna's "helpful" suggestions Kepler just could not settle on one theme for the party. So one morning while Jayna was at school I took Kepler to the store to pick out his party stuff. And this is what he came up with:

My personal favourite is his green frog cake. He just saw it and instantly wanted the cute, green frog on top of his cake! Haha, this party could not suit him more. He got to have everything he loved and didn't have to  leave anything out. 

And I can't forget the black and brown streamers he chose!

 Jayna was so mad that we went to get all the stuff without her. She said "I wanted to go and tell Kepler what to get!" And that's exactly why we did it this way. :)

The kids putting together the treat buckets and pinata. 

Kepler snuck away a couple times during his party to check out all his gifts. I think he was in shock that they were all really for him!

The great thing about all my kids having summer birthdays is the backyard birthday parties!

We did lots of games outside and an obstacle course.  Kepler's jumping over the snake.

And of course the pinata, all the kid's favourite!

Poor Jayna, she was looking a little rough that day and I'm pretty sure I didn't brush her hair at all. We had Kepler party after Gibb being gone for 12 days. We picked him up at the airport at 2:20 and the party started at 4:00, so needless to say that was not high on my priority list.

4 is sounding like a really big number for this little guy! In a lot of ways Kepler is still my baby boy, and I'm sure he would gladly accept (or steal) the title of baby from Keira if he could. He is such a sweet, sensitive boy and still loves to snuggle. He has definitely given us a run for our money this year, so in some ways I'm hoping we can put the terrible 3's behind us now. I think a lot of that stemmed from jealousy, but he is a great big brother to Keira. He like to give her lots of love and his motto when he's "playing" with her is if she's not crying then she must be having fun! Kepler has a big imagination, loves boats and airplanes, wants to learn to play hockey, wants to be exactly like Jayna and wants to be a surfer dude when he grows up. We love you so much Kepler, I can't imagine our family without him!