Pierce's Birthday Party--Mo had a BLAST!

Many of you know, Gabe & Pierce Martin are Mo's best friends. He can't wait to see them--they live down the road about 1/2 a mile--but with everyone's crazy schedules, Mo only gets to see them about once a month. Well, in January, Pierce turned 8 and had a great party. Mo was SO excited. (Luckily, Heather warned Josh ahead of time about the main attraction of the party: reptiles--specifically snakes. Knowing Josh's legendary dislike of snakes, she kindly gave him the option of not coming. So Josh told Pierce, "Happy Birthday" a day or two early and stayed home doing whatever it is guys do when given some freedom to do what they want without the wife and kid around.)

Mo, on the other hand, could not WAIT to go, and was in the thick of everything from the moment he got there. Fortunately, Pierce and Gabe like Mo as much as he likes them, and they are awesome at including him in everything. Check it out!

The folks at "Pets Gone Wild" brought a wide array of large lizards and snakes, and even a big tarantula. They let the kids touch nearly everything, and while some of the kids were unsure and unwilling to touch, Mo wanted to touch them ALL! Here he touches some big lizard. (Yes, Mo touched the tarantula as well.)

Now he's touching a pretty...Honduras corn snake, I think....not sure. This is one of about 7 or 8 snakes that were there.

Heather got to hold one for awhile during the presentation. Right up her alley!

Gabe takes after his mother--holding a snake is COOL!

Mo wanted to hold the big one--I think it's a Boa Constrictor. It was very long. Mo was fearless.

Look, Mama, I have a SNAKE!!!!

Now we get to the important part of the birthday party--opening presents! Yes, that IS my child helping the birthday boy open his gifts. When I tried to get Mo to come away and let Pierce do it, Pierce said, "It's ok, he can help!" What a generous spirit.

Mo helped open every gift. He was as excited as Pierce about what the presents were. It's ok that they weren't for him. He just wanted to open the presents.

Finally all the presents had been opened. Now Mo is sitting on Pierce's lap surveying the loot!

Then they all had cake and ice cream, and afterwards went outside to run off some of that boundless energy. It was a good day.