10

Somewhere in between our trip to MN/WI and my vacation to New York with Hubby, my Dude turned 10! TEN! One-Zero!

That number uses 2 digits. I’m not sure I like that. I won’t go on and on about how wonderful and sensitive and great and handsome and smart and fun and goofy he is or how he loves anything outdoors like hiking, biking, baseball, Boy Scouts, his fort, playing, walking Duma or how he’s discovered the IM feature of gmail and loves to kid and send messages to me and Queen Taunya if he gets online during the day.

Everyone who reads this little blog knows all about my little Dude and how much I love him and how awesome he is.

This year he decided to have a Rock Climbing party . . . woo hoo! I love his parties

I’d like to thank Martha for the idea for the invitations . . .

I thought they turned out pretty cool if I do say so myself! And the goody bags were fun, too!

Water bottle to stay hydrated . . . carabener because every climber needs a carabener . . . ROCK candy, CLIF bars, Pop ROCKS . . . trail mix The boys loved ‘em!

I found some fun cake ideas, but I ended up asking a friend to make it since I wouldn’t have done this one justice. Christie did an awesome job - I think it turned out great!

I love the Happy Birthday banner at the top, how she decorated the ropes and tied them around the letters in his name, and how she made the person look like Dude with the ever-present camo pants, black shirt, and baseball hat.

Dude is totally a small group kinda guy, so he invited 3 friends to his party. We went out for pizza buffet lunch and got all good and full before we headed to the climbing joint for some fun!

The Rock Climbing place was cool . . . it’s only $12/climber for the entire day and they teach the adults how to belay. We only had 3 adults, so the kids had to take turns, but it all worked out - they needed breaks in between climbing anyway!

Princess had a great time climbing with the boys…

Dude always enjoys the climbing! He tried all kinds of different difficulties of walls.

Near the end of climbing, all the boys wanted to conquer this one wall that none of them had tried. It took a while, but they all finally made it! Dude touches the top!

While the kids were climbing, the adults got to do this . . . which makes your back and neck really sore after a couple hours!

Here they all are, on their last climb of the day. They’re allowed to climb up to 5 feet above the gravel without being tied up . . . so of course I made them do it for one last final picture

After climbing we were off to head back home for cake and presents . . . I seriously can’t believe he’s TEN!

Cake was eaten, presents were opened, and dinner was made. After that, there were no photos or even adult interaction because everyone knows that once the boys go downstairs to build forts and whatever else it is they think they need to do for a sleepover, anyone under 4 feet tall and over 4.5 feet tall is no longer welcome

Happy Birthday, Dude!