It's official...He's 8!

The celebration has been going on for about 2 weeks now but today marked the official day when Robert Caleb Gray reached the all important 8th birthday. It was SO MUCH FUN! Well, except the part where he got a bad tummy ache right in the middle of his birthday party, but we won't dwell on that. On with the fun. The party began 2 weeks ago when we all headed to the rodeo in Lehi. It is a tradition for Caleb to go to the rodeo and we had PA, Emily, Steve, and Jorge along for the night. It was great! I think our favorite part was the "half-time" entertainment; when they brought out some BMX dirt bikes and excited us all with their jumps, tricks and flips through the air. It was AWESOME! We also had fun cheering on the riders and getting excited for the action. Caleb's (and mine) other favorite part was when a bronc rider, named Caleb, rode almost right in front of us and waved to the crowd as his horse was bucking. It was cool.

Lehi rodeo 2011

Now for the part where I do not have pictures. Rob headed to scout camp with our camera and we headed to Scofield to party like awesome people on our own until he met up with us. Granny Gray was totally wonderful and let us borrow her truck so we went down early and stopped by Caleb's cave, had a picnic on a rock nearby and headed to the cabin. Upon arrival at the cabin we found that the water pump was out and we would not have water for the next day or so. So we roughed it in the cabin for a day and fortunately for all 4th of July vacationers we had water by Thursday night. I never knew I would be thankful to be able to do the dishes. :) Friday we played all day in the lake and Saturday we went to Scofield's parade. The boys got a LOAD of candy and then both Peter and Caleb climbed the rock wall. It was Peter's first year climbing and through some struggles he made it to the top. Caleb also made it to the top and rang the bell with pride. That night Rob came up the Scofield (yeah!) and we were able to watch the fireworks off the island and loved them all!

Next celebration, Caleb's birthday party:

The birthday boy in all his coolness! The driveway says "Caleb is 8 8 8 8 8 8..."

I decided that 8 years old was the age we would start doing the traditional Gray birthday breakfast. Complete with candy on the table (a minimal amount), and the Special Boy plate, cup and utensils. Caleb loved the giant cup but unfortunately he was so excited to drink the milk from it that he filled up on milk before he finished all of his yummy food. Peter is definitely looking forward to his 8th birthday, he cannot stop talking about all the things that he gets to do when he is 8.

Since it was such a special birthday for Caleb we went all out and called a company called Scales and Tails Utah to come and bring some reptiles to our house and do a show for the kids. Since they would be bringing a snake, or two, we had a snake cupcake cake. It was fun to make and the kids really liked it.

The next are a few shots from the party, it was very fun! The presenter was named Caleb, very cool for the birthday boy, and he was funny and fun to watch. They brought a tortoise, lizards, and snakes to the house, talked to the kids about them, showed them off, and at the end of the party the kids got to touch and hold a few of the reptiles. Like I said, we all had fun. Caleb, the presenter, said the funniest things and really made the kids enjoy themselves. Caleb was laughing and smiling the whole time (unless he was concerned that the snake was too close for comfort).

Since Caleb was the man of the hour he got to hold a lot of the animals himself. He said the tortoise was heavy (named Fuzzy Wuzzy). He really liked the bearded dragon. At one point the dragon tried climbing up his shirt and he was a little alarmed at that. Then when the presenter placed it on Caleb's head he was loving it, until the dragon pulled his hair. :)

This was the biggest snake of the whole show, 10 feet long, a baby python named Sher Khan. Yeah, that's a baby python. We had so much fun with the show! After it was all done the kids all went into the back yard and Caleb opened his presents. He received so many fun things from his friends and Rachiele cousins. They were all such great presents! Unfortunately at this point of the party Caleb had some pretty bad stomach gas and he spent the rest of the party inside. While his friends ate snake cupcakes and played in the pool, Caleb was down and out. But he slowly felt better and was able to play with his brothers before ending such a great day. Two other things that must be remembered about today. The presenter told Caleb that if at any time the reptile got heavy or he did not want to hold it anymore to say "banana." While holding the tortoise and the bearded dragon he was fine. But when it came time for a rather long snake and Caleb was holding it with his arms outstretched he realized how big it was and blurted out, "BANANA!" I wish I could show you the video because it is so funny. Item #2, at the end of the day Willy was in the house alone and we were cleaning up outside. We all came in, Willy was in the bathroom running water and I walked into the kitchen to see the leftover cupcakes all mutilated. Someone had either dug in with their finger or taken a bite out of the top of each one, and then moved on to the next. I went into find Willy in the bathroom and asked him, "Did you have some cupcakes?" And very matter-of-factly he looked at me as simply said, "Yeah." It was so funny. He did not see anything wrong with it. Frosting smeared all over his mouth and a cup in his hand, he went on to say, "I went in to get a drink." AWESOME! Happy Birthday, Caleb! Next stop, Baptism! Yahoo!