Patrick turns Seven

Yesterday (2-16) my nephew Patrick turned seven and today we met up with him for a lil celebration. He's really into skateboarding, well as into it as any seven year old can be. My brother used to take Patrick to the skateparks and teach him skateboarding tricks.... and well now... my brother hardly comes around. I guess that's what divorced does to people, or maybe it's stupidity, or addiction, it's something... but in the end Patrick is the one who suffers. He's a great kid and we always have a great time when we hang out. He loves the babies, he's always kissing, hugging and following them around, helping them when they need help and just being sweet. He also enjoys spending time with Bianca, he comes and spends the night with us frequently or goes on short trips with us.

So I call his mom to tell her that we want to buy him a new skateboard... I'm thinking $200, my sister pays half and he's got a new awesome board... well his mom says he's got a new board, and an old one that he thrashes around on. I know he's got a beat up board at my parents house too, but Amanda assures me that he's got a new board and needs some shoes instead... She tells me he wears a 13.5 and his foot is growing fast so if i get him a 1, he'll be good....

So I hit the local boardshop - On3 (it's in Roseville) with my girlfriend Sherri and the kids -Bianca, Sydney and Peyton.... Bianca had a giftcard she wanted to spend... She went crazy in the store... she tried on a bunch of stuff - the xtra small stuff, and she got quite a few things.... new hoodie sweatshirt, some really cute girlie shirts, and a couple tanks... The babies ran around the store like it was a playground... and enjoyed talking to Mason and Don. Peyton usually pretends to talk to Don on the phone, so while he was on the phone, she was walking by him and shouted out "Hi Don" it was really cute... So after Bianca got all her stuff, I checked out the skate shoes for lil boys... ended up getting some really cool black DVS shoes for Patrick and an Element T shirt. Very awesome stuff...

Patrick was so excited about his skate shoes and shirt and couldn't wait to try them on and wear them around... the shoes fit perfect...(in other words, I should have gotten a 1.5 so he could grow into them) I knew I should have taken him with me to try them on.... but once he put them on... he didn't want to take them off... I gave him a bunch of On3 stickers too. He also got a DVS and Element sticker.... So he decorated his thrashed board and his skateboard ramp.... oh the shoes...

We played around while Patrick showed us skateboarding tricks, rode his ramp and bike, the girls played with the dogs and played in their truck. Bianca and Ben went to a soccer camp. My parents had to go bid on a job and my sister and I took the kids up to the local elementary school. the girls played on the slide, Patrick rode his bike and played basketball with some kids while I was the Papparazzi or mamarazzi as it fits...

Patrick does an ollie into a tail grind and holds the pose

up the ramp trying to ollie onto the wall

the girls see the slides

a lil basketball action

Patrick bringing up the rear with Amy and Peyton - she's marching with her hands in her pockets
Playing on the structure
Our favorite part is the slide
Sydney is a lightning fast

a big basketball game was about to happen, so big that Patrick had to bare his chest to prove he could play with the big boys... and Peyton was explaining that she was gonna play but she had no intentions of showing anyone anything...