Life Is But A Dream: It's Not Every Day Yer Young Man Turns Eleven!

I love it when "birthday season" starts around here, and I love that it always starts with a day to celebrate our Avery! He is one of the most brilliant, interesting, and amazing kids you could ever hope to meet. He is also one to disappear somewhere when the camera is out (usually off reading a book in a quiet corner of the house), so I don't get as many fun pictures of him as I would like. BUT, on this one happy birthday day in March, it is all about Avery, and that is a real treat!

This year was an extra fun birthday for Avery, because, according to Rubeus Hagrid: "It's not every day yer young man turns eleven!" Yup, Avery has reached that very special year of his life when all parents keep their fingers crossed that a snowy white owl will show up with something like this:

This is the envelope addressed to Avery with a very important letter inside!

We're so proud!

And oh, we are so proud of our budding little wizard! I hope the first thing they teach at Hogwarts is how to use his magic wand to put away clean, folded laundry after his mom places it in a laundry basket and puts it in his bedroom, so he doesn't have to leave it there for days while his dirty laundry piles up on the floor next to it. So proud!

We really had a great time celebrating Avery this year. We took a day off school to go to one of our favorite places--Mid-Air Adventures. This fantastic place has zip lines, swings, rock climbing walls, rope bridges, slides, etc. And because we went on a school day morning, we had the entire place to ourselves for an hour and a half! How awesome is that?

I have so many pictures to share of our celebrations, Avery's favorite birthday meal(s), his exceptional choice of cake, and his Hogwart's stash and gifts. Please enjoy the following parade of pictures of a super fun birthday!

We actually let Avery choose TWO favorite meals for his birthday: one on the Sunday before his birthday, and another for the birthday itself. The meal pictured here is Avery's all time favorite! Roasted red potatoes, grilled teriyaki flank steak, and steamed broccoli. Yum, yum! Everyone loves it when we have Avery's favorite meal, but especially Avery!

Well, hello Chase! This is at Mid-Air Adventures. Chase is all strapped into his safety harness and is loving the zip line!

This was Coco's first time on the zip lines. She had a one on one instruction from a friendly staffer there and loved every minute. She was excited and dramatic and enthusiastic, and much louder than her older, more experienced and subdued brothers. It was super fun to watch her!

Big smile!

Avery was moving so fast I could barely get a shot that wasn't completely fuzzy!

More big smiles from our girl.

Trey played on the slide and other equipment designed for the littler crowd. Of course, he was the only one that day!

Coco braved the rock wall, too!

Here's our birthday boy on the rock wall. So fun!

Climbing higher and higher!

Chase at the tippy top of the rock wall!

Ah! Now there's the birthday smile I like to see!

Trey on the rope bridge!

Birthday decor in Hogwarts colors!

Here is Avery reading his acceptance letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Eleven is a magical age!

Here is Avery's stash of goodies brought by snowy owl from Honeyduke's Candy Store in Hogsmeade: Chocolate Frogs with Wizard Trading Cards, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and Butter Beer! What a lucky little dude--especially considering his Muggle heritage. Merlin's beard!

This picture makes me smile. Avery was kind enough to let Trey "help" open one of his gifts, but he got a little nervous when Trey enthusiastically carried it off to open it as if it were his very own. Haha! Such a good and patient big brother!

So excited about the Lord of the Rings Lego set he had asked for. And those littles doing a photobomb in the background are pretty cute, too!

Avery's choice for birthday cake: 3-layer cherry red velvet cake with homemade cream cheese frosting. Oh. My. So decadent! I threw some Harry Potter figures on top to make sure we stayed with the theme. Best cake ever!

Avery's birthday dinner! The boy has excellent taste in quality food, don't you think?

Avery's birthday dinner on the "special plate!"

This is Avery's birthday dinner on MY plate, demonstrating the proper way to serve it. Avery likes to keep his cilantro lime rice separate from everything else on his plate because he loves it so much. But, I thought my plate was just a little prettier. Haha!