Lunch Date with Sarah, David & Dad

Lunch with the Sarah and David.  David was thrilled.  The teachers said he talked about it all morning.  He was going to go out to lunch with his Dad and with his sister Sarah.

We met at Bowman (Sarah's old school). That was an unexpected adventure for Sarah.

The teachers remembered her including the head  of the school Mary Beth.  One of the kids in Sarah's class now teaches at Bowman.

David was so proud.  He introduced Sarah to each and everyone of his classmates.  Luckily they were having lunch so it was easy to go from table to table, but he did not miss a beat.

We were hungry too so we left the school for lunch and went to David's favorite place - Counter Burger. You can build your own burger or chicken sandwich with all the fixings including dried cranberries, apricot sauce, you name it.

We shared some great conversation.  David showed Sarah a few twisty tricks and recited the blessings for the Hanukkah candles to show how much Hebrew he already knows.  He was very pleased to hear that Sarah knew the blessings too (which also made Dad feel pretty good too).

All in all - just a lunch with the kids but what a joy!

Birthday Party David Turns 5

David Turns 5 years old.  

So we rented a jump house - what else do kids love to do.  Ok - we enjoyed it too.  But we are getting ahead of ourselves.  The jump house was supposed to arrive at noon.  It arrived at 9:00 am.  It got things started a bit earlier than anticipated.  Not just for us but our wonderful and very friendly and accommodating neighbor had to move his cars out of his garage so they would be accessible during the day since we were taking over the street (with his permission - but we expected it all to begin around noon not 9 am).  He was a great sport but we all had to scramble.

Ok - we all had some fun once the jump house went up - yes that's David and me at the end of the slide inside the jump house.  We are all smiles because he said:  "Dad you try it with me" and I did to his endless amusement.

Oh, did I mention after the jump house went up and we had some fun before all the kids came, Bitsy decided to run away (that's our dog).  So for an hour I had to track her down as she had fun teasing me - going a little ways until I caught up with her and then darting away.  Oh yes, the day was really starting out with the ultimate workout.  Eventually I wore her out and she stopped and I had to carry her back half way.  Yes this was quite the unplanned exercise routine and there was still plenty to do to get ready for our guests (17 kids and their parents).

In any case, the kids started coming and they had a ball.  (As an anthropological aside, it was interesting to see which parents (mostly dads) just left their kids off and which one's stayed to watch their kids (and guide their behavior in case of a potential meltdown) - but as I say while you could see a difference in the kids behavior (controlled/uncontrolled, destructive/polite and careful), they were fine,  just an interesting aside or observation.)  As you can see, David was oblivious to this anthropological note and loved having his friends over - jumping like a maniac.

The man with no fear - down he goes again.

After the jump house it was time to play in David's playroom.  I think they loved it just as much as the jump house.  We were impressed with David.  He let everyone play with his toys.  When one of the toys came crashing down on the floor or something looked like it might have broken he was fine with it.  No meltdown or temper tantrum.  He just rolled with it. Sharing - what a concept.  Who would imagine he would reach this point of emotional maturity before age 30.  

The kids were playing non-stop.  I guess the toys were age appropriate.  I was going to have them review galleys of my next book - seemed like a fun idea to me at the time  - the anticipation of a new book coming out - kids love books.  We read to David every night.  But for some reason I didn't think Summer would be crazy about that idea.  My guess is that she figured they might be too harsh as critiques of this book - which is dedicated to the little man.  Hey I can take it - on the other hand kids can be pretty rough. Maybe it is better to stick with the age appropriate stuff for now - for my sake.)

As you can see, it was almost impossible to get them to move to the next activity anyway (how is that for an a hasty retreat on my earlier more scholarly suggestion for the kids).

In any case, the next activity came and how do you resist a Pinata?  Especially after they smack it open and all the candy comes pouring out.  (This is always a treat - keeping the kids from accidentally hitting each other or pushing in line - but it worked out and no one got hurt.  The call to 911for bumps on the head from falling candy was just a test - really.)

Cake time finally came - nothing like a bit more sugar right?  What did we care - they were all going home again and we knew their parents would really appreciate the impact of the sugar rush they were going to receive for the rest of the night.  Kind souls aren't we.  Its ok - it was Baskin Robbins ice cream cake. That's healthy right?

You will find our traditional Happy Birthday celebration song below with candles.

A couple of the kids took a detour after the cake and went upstairs and what did they see? What was all that yelling about:  "Come on up!"  "You gotta see this."  "Come up now."

Turkeys - wild turkeys.  I forgot about our wildlife neighbors.  They made it past Thanksgiving and were pushing their luck strolling around the back yard now.  It was the height of the party for some of the kids.

Well just when you thought the party was about to end, who appeared:  Magic Mike (a wonderful magician who is great with kids and adults too - he adds a tiny bit of subtle sarcasm to the performance that keeps it interesting for the rest of us not-so-little folks).

The kids loved him.  He took the proverbial rabbit out of a hat.  Novel you say - you try it. David and I are learning magic tricks and that one is something else - another order of magnitude as it were.

There were the classic balloon tricks too.

There was also the magic napkin hat trick - a real birthday party favorite.  (If we had know about it in advance it would have saved us some money on the party hats.)  

[Take a look at this video below to see his magic trick and tell me who you see in the mirror on the stairs - looks like mom watching from way up there.]  

There was also a dog that ate David up and he loved it.  You try and figure out what makes these little guys laugh some times - a dog eating your head.  They all loved it - what can I say.  That one was over my head.  I am used to a dog-eat dog world but kids, what is this world coming to. 

Well the festivities eventually came to an end.  We said good-bye to everyone.  Each kid got their gift bag filled with cool toys that Summer pulled together and David went through his gifts methodically matching gift to name to prepare for the long list of thank you notes.

One of the gifts was a set of bug glasses - you see what a bug sees though those lenses.  It was late enough for us to say "night, night - don't let the bedbugs bite" and actually match his demeanor.  Mom ends the day with a kiss with this little bug.

Shortly after, mom and dad called it a night too. What a day?  Not too bad for  5 years old.  Do you remember having a birthday like that - we sure didn't but what the heck. The parents had a great time and the kids just loved it - even David.  

When we put him to bed I asked him what the best part of the day was and he said:  "when the magician took a baby sucker out of your ear"..."that was funny dad."  So that is what he remembered from the day.  If that's all he really remembered I would be fine - a funny image of dad - a big smile -  not too bad at the end of the day.  (Luckily he also added the bounce house as one of the hits of the day.  Good think - we almost needed a permit to put the thing up it was so big.)

Well, thank you for being a part of his (and our) life as well - if only from a virtual view.  Happy holidays!