His Special Day

Micah's 5th birthday - his special day. It began with pancakes and bacon, per his request. Promptly after breakfast, he was asking "if I can open my presents yeeeet?" A slingshot, (more!) Lego's, a telescope that he went ballistic over, and other boy toys brought big smiles and loud yells to my little man. I loved every minute of watching him open gifts. He's expressive. He's excitable. He's full of life.

That afternoon Micah met five of his friends at Plaza Fiesta for a few hours of climbing and sliding and running. Micah's birthday invite list began with a whopping 18 friends, and I told him to shrink that list down to five. I figured that since he was turning five he could invite five friends. Decisions, decisions, but he narrowed his list down pretty quickly: the staple five friends that seem to be in the same birthday party attending circuit with each other.

A precious side note: We gave Micah the option of attending a monster truck show as our family or having a small party with friends for his birthday. Without a moment's hesitation he answered, "I want a birthday party at Plaza Fiesta because Annalyse wouldn't like the Monster Trucks because they're too loud." We told him that was thoughtful, but that we'd leave Annalyse with a babysitter so he didn't need to worry about her ears. His instant response: "Well that won't be any fun, I want my whole family together on my birthday! Let's go to Plaza Fiesta!" And that was that.

Pizza lunch - with pepperoni's only, per Micah's request. Birthday cake - with vanilla cake and vanilla frosting and red, blue, and yellow icing, per Micah's request. What the birthday boy wanted, the birthday boy got. And, the great thing about Micah, is that he's usually so agreeable that it's very easy to satisfy him.

With full bellies and sugar highs, it was time for more presents! More yells and shouts and smiles and joy. Simple gifts from little friends brought loud laughter and happy grins to my little man.

Once gifts were open, we gave each child a card with access to unlimited arcade games for 25 minutes. After that time, the cards stopped working, the kids cashed in their game tickets, and walked away with trinkets and candy. The girls? Mostly bling-bling rings and pretty fold out fans. The boys? Mostly rubber balls and candy. So predictable and so cute.

Micah's special day ended with a spaghetti dinner - per his request. To top off the fun, Mr. Sean was over for his weekly dinner with our family and was able to ooh and aah over Micah's new stash of toys. Micah loves Mr. Sean and thinks the world of him - and the fact that Mr. Sean's birthday is the day right after Micah's makes him think he's extra cool.

Now my hot-shot FIVE year old is already talking about what he wants to do for his next birthday party. But guess what? He says he had so much fun at Plaza Fiesta that he wants to do the same thing again next year! We'll see how long that plan lasts...