Sebastian is SIX!

Sebastian turned SIX last week! Six sounds so much older than five (and first grade sounds so much bigger than kindergarten)! He's still super sweet and snuggly, which we all love, but our littlest guy is, indeed, getting to be a big kid! He even recently traded his quarantine locks (very 70's) for a considerably more modern 'do. Here's the transformation!

Remote learning was toughest for Sebastian since so much of kindergarten is centered around playing with buddies and learning how to BE a student, but luckily, he has embraced his inner artist during all the weeks we've been home. He's obsessed with art challenges, cardboard crafts and "sneaky snacks" (when you turn an everyday item into something edible). So it was quite easy to put him to work the night before his birthday since our neighborhood encouraged folks to make/put out encouraging signs for Juneteenth.

Sebastian had only a few requests for his big day this year and Legos were high on the list!

As was a Bendy cake. I think we nailed it!

And a family water balloon fight!

Our formidable crew!

Afterward, we moved to the deck for dinner (Sebastian asked for several things including buffalo chicken nachos from Slatts) and then inside for singing....

and cake!

I used this recipe for Sebastian's chocolate cake and frosting. It was extremely good. Tony and I literally ate a piece of cake twice a day until it was gone. Then he suggested we play "Taps." Ha!

A homemade card from Nonna!

And playtime with Snowflake.

She even explored the Lego firehouse from Gammy that Sebastian spent all day building.

We worried a bit that Sebastian would be sad not to have an official party with friends this year, but he seemed to understand that parties are tough to have these days. He received several kind video messages from friends in his kindergarten class, though, and was more than happy to have a sleepover with Brie in her bed. He can't get enough sibling sleepovers these days!

The birthday festivities poured right into Father's Day, which was especially nice. Tony got a navy and orange tie from my folks and a "YODA BEST DAD, LOVE YOU I DO" mug from the kids and me that Brie and I spotted on Etsy. I think we checked the boxes for quintessential "dad gifts," don't you? 😉

Nonna also made Tony a cool homemade card...with construction paper and old buttons.

Father's Day was very relaxing...lots of lounging and reading on the couch. Samuel had spent the week at camp making his own board game, so we played that as a family. It's called "Galaxy Clue" and was pretty much an intergalactic version of our family favorite. If you zoom in, you can see that Tony's face is on the back of the cards...hilarious! (By the way, the very first day that Samuel was at camp, we realized that it was the first time that the five of us had not had lunch together in three. whole. months. We really missed him!!)

Then the birthday boy conked out. Remember I said it was a relaxing day??

Other fun last week? Sebastian and Brie made (socially distant) tie-dye t-shirts with one of our sitters. They turned out beautifully!

We whipped up some homemade strawberry ice cream: yum!!

These two thought it would be a fun experience to swim in stuffed animals. I mean, why would it not be?!

Bas scored more Legos from Auntie B!

And I baked AGAIN. This time, I made a dark chocolate pie that turned out really well (and used up the rest of the whole milk that I bought to make ice cream with, which was a win-win). I even made the pralines that come with the recipe and they were a huge hit. We'd definitely make this again, but maybe tweak it a bit next time...with espresso powder or peanut butter. But soooo good...

And since I'm feeling sentimental about Sebastian turning six, I thought I'd share my post from when Samuel (then Sammy) turned six (and Sebastian turned six months)! And here's my post from when Brie turned six! Seems like a long time ago...

P.S. Ruh roh, Raggy! Tony and Samuel are clean cut again, too!