Birthday Season

Well, it's time for the birthday blitz around here. I always try to make a post on each of my kid's birthdays, but we had so much fun while celebrating Seth's 7th, that I am only now getting around to writing about it... some two days later. Shame on me!

Birthdays are typically a big deal in this family, but this one really took the cake... and the ice cream, too! We started off by opening presents at 8:30 am and then preceding to eat the aforementioned foods. Yes, it was rather early for such things, but we couldn't figure out how to fit it all in, otherwise! Below are pics. of Seth with his gifts and cake:

Generally speaking, children like to actually open the boxes and play with their new toys. Unfortunately, there was not time for this, as we had places to go and rodents to see... We headed straight out the door and traveled to Chuck-E-Cheese, our traditional birthday destination. I should mention, here, that we allow our children to pick whatever restaurant they want for their birthday lunch/dinner, except on "party years". They always pick Chuck-E-Cheese.

On this particular Saturday, it was, of course, a zoo! The entire stage section was reserved for some other party, but we eventually found a couple of booths that we could occupy. I no longer enjoy Chuck-E-Cheese, myself, but this post isn't really about me, so I'll stuff it. Seth had a great time! I was quite proud of him as I observed him sharing tokens with his brother and sister, as well as complete strangers, on occasion. In the end, he won enough tickets to purchase a slimy little lizard thing and an itty bitty yellow slinky. We were all impressed.

It took us roughly half an hour to get everyone's shoes back on and to get out the door! This, of course, would have made us slightly late for Seth's portrait sitting. What we didn't count on was the traffic/construction that made us really late. The photographer took us anyway, even though she was supposed to be on her lunch break, and that was greatly appreciated. We got several good shots that we will share once they arrive!

I was ready to call it a day at this point. Instead, we drove to CP for yet another fun, family adventure. Seth's crowning achievement was riding the Gemini for the first time! He loved it! Unfortunately, I only have about four seconds of video to show for our half hour wait, because I never saw Phil and Seth get on. I haven't re-watched the tape yet, so I hope it turned out OK.

I plan to archive our entire trip, per normal, but this particular post is specifically about Seth's b-day, so you'll have to check again soon for another post... We did manage to finally snap the all elusive pic. we've been waiting for all year! That's the teaser...

After a few hours of fun, we walked back to the van, loaded up our crew, and drove home. Grace, Caleb, and Ian were all asleep within minutes, so we drove through at McDs and got fries for all parties age seven and up. Seth almost never falls asleep in the van anymore. After all, you never know what you might miss. He did fall asleep, however, after he ate his fries.

At the end of a long and exciting day, we returned home and crashed (Well, except for Phil who still had a paper to write... I saved mine for Sunday...) It was a fantastic day. I cannot believe my "baby" is seven!

Here's one more pic:
Thanks for Reading!

Lisa