Hudson "extreme animals" birthday party

Hudson had gone back and forth on what he wanted for his 4th birthday party. It was Chuck E Cheese, then a dinosaur party, then a gymnastics party, then he finally decided he wanted Extreme Animals to come to our house. I got it all booked, reserved our favorite cake lady, and ordered the invitations. He was more than excited and his party and had quite the countdown going!

The morning of his party was quite brutal. Matt and I were cleaning the house to get it ready and we just expected Hadley and Hudson to play. However, Hudson only asked us about 500 times if it was almost time for his party. Towards the end he got quite irritated and thought he couldn't wait any longer. Thankfully, Mama and Papa showed up and Papa helped to pass the time. He set a timer for 45 minutes on his phone and Hudson literally stared at the countdown until the buzzer went off!





We were all set up for the party and though it took a little convincing, I finally talked Hudson into a few pictures with his cake, his sister, and one family pic.



As soon as the animal keepers arrived they set the big tortoise outside for the kids to watch him walk around while she got all the other animals out. Hudson didn't want to get too close at first but warmed up a little bit and at least touched his back. The tortoise made himself at home and was soon burying himself in our flowerbeds.

The weather was pretty nice compared to the 95 degrees from the few days before but 85 still felt a little warm in the sun. So the kids gathered under our patio as the animal keeper pulled the animals out one by one to show and tell.



I really debated having her bring the boa constrictor. But she said the kids always LOVED it. Hudson, unfortunately, is terrified of snakes and jumped out of the chair to run to my arms as soon as he saw the tiniest sight of him. He was actually shaking and had real tears until she put him back in the Rubbermaid box he came out of .

Several other kids wanted nothing to do with the snake as well but we had a few that wanted their picture taken with him.

I have already forgotten the names of several of the rare animals but this was some sort of fox. He was just a baby but wont get much bigger. This animal got lots of "oohs and ahhs" out of the little girls.

And this was one of everyone's favorites...the otter. He did all sorts of tricks and wasn't scared at all.

Everyone wanted a picture with the parrot on their head:

All lined up for another favorite, the lemur. This little guy was so funny to watch and ran all over the place. He even tried to attack my camera strap when I took a picture of him.

And finally...my favorite, the kangaroo. He was a little baby and so cute. We learned lots of fun facts about the kangaroo such as: when they are born they are the size of a pea and if conditions arent favorable for delivery the momma can pause her pregnancy for however long she needs to.  The adults seemed to find this more interesting than the kids.

While the kids lined up to take pictures sitting on the tortoise (that had dug a hole in our flowerbeds) the trainer let the kangaroo loose in our yard. I was just sure the thing was going to hop over our fence and make a run for it through the golf course.

Cake time! Hudson was a little shy for the birthday song but had no problem pulling it together to blow out his candles. The cake was so yummy with chocolate on top and vanilla on the bottom.

And finally, while some parents and kids ate cake the others watched Hudson open gifts. It was mass chaos and while I started trying to take pictures, I soon realized I was just going to be getting the back of all the kids heads and it would be more fun to just sit and watch.

Hudson had a great party. He was so excited about all of his friends that came and, of course, loved his presents as well! I am still in a little bit of shock that he is already 4 years old!



Hudson is 4!

FOUR. YEARS. OLD?!?! How??? It absolutely blows my mind that 4 years has come and gone. Yet every day is better than the last and I am so thankful for a wonderful four years. This kiddo has rocked our world. He has challenged us daily and he is the most stubborn and strong-willed child on the planet. BUT along with that he is the most sensitive, loving, cuddly kid there ever was too. He makes me melt daily with his sweet "i love you's" and constant hugs. He is such a stinker to his sister but follows her around like a little shadow as well. He just wants to be grown up so bad and is constantly asking if his muscles are getting bigger or standing up next to a wall to see if he has grown more overnight. He is loving his new school and even wants to walk to class all by himself, yet screams with excitement and runs to jump in my arms when I get there to pick him up. He is crazy about his daddy and thinks his daddy is the strongest man in the world. He even has specific golf outfits that he insists on wearing when doing things with his daddy. Hudson still loves cars and trucks but has developed a bigger love for superheros and transformers. He specifically loves Batman the most. He loves to play golf with the family and likes to play outside. He isn't quite as much of a tv junkie anymore but if we ever need him to calm down with his energetic personality, we can typically find a movie to steal his attention. We love him so very much and his sister adores him. Happy Birthday, Hudson Jake Holloman

Hadley was up early with us as we all waited for Hudson to wake up. At the first sign of him stirring we grabbed the camera and I made my way upstairs to greet the birthday boy. It was almost as if he had forgotten and was so excited when we reminded him. He quickly got embarrased and we had to put the camera down until he got downstairs and in front of his presents. He could barely contain himself as he quickly opened each one with so much excitement. Surprisingly, he even get excited about the new clothes I had bought him!

He's been looking through Halloween catalogs for a month and LOVED the policeman, fireman, and Batman. Since he loves to dress up so much and has more toys than he needs I figured they would be great gifts. Unfortunately, I forgot that the police outfit was from my mom and we had him unwrap it before they even got to our house. But he was so excited to try it on and had trouble waiting until he got through all is gifts!

More switch-n-go dinos to add to his collection! Now they make mini dinos and he was pretty pumped to see he got his first one.

And these last presents show his love for all things involving dragons. The first present is a dragon that breathes smoke. The next two are from "How to train your dragon" movie that is one of his favorites. They came from Hadley and he gave her the biggest hug to tell her thank you!

After Hudson had opened his presents he immediately jumped down to put on his police costume. He looked so adorable! And truely thought he was a junior police officer. He wore it to the donut shop for some breakfast donuts and then we came home to play "Police." We all spent a couple hours getting arrested by Hudson and thrown in jail (or the wine room). He would then make us guess the secret password/phrase which typically went something like "Hudson is the best" to get out of jail. I am just including some of my favorite pictures that show his imaginative personality.

I had ordered a cookie cake for Hudson since his birthday party wasn't for another week so Hadley and I left for a bit to go pick it up. It wasn't quite ready when we got there so Hadley was in luck and we did a little shopping for her while we were at the mall. When I came back Mama and Papa came over to help us sing happy birthday, open more presents from them, and eat some cake. He was so excited for us to sing to him but got a little shy when it started. He just looked like such a big boy waiting to blow out his candles!

After a full day of already celebrating we went to Hudson and Hadley's favorite restaurant, Chuck E Cheese! Ryans family and Mama and Papa joined us for some fun. The kids ate great and then played a couple hours of games. We ended up with loads of tickets and some pretty "wonderful" toys. Hudson told us several times that it was the very best day and was such a sweetheart all day. And Hadley could not have been a better sister. She knew the day was all about him and was sweet to let him do whatever he wanted. It was a fun day and we are looking forward to some more celebrating next weekend.