Birthday Week Part 2

Rex turned 6 on March 13th.  And all my thoughts that day: I've made a huge mistake.

Mistake #1: Decorations.  Since I made such a huge deal decorating for Greg's birthday, Rex insisted on having decorations for his.  And lots of them.  So I spent Thursday night hanging up all my birthday banners (most useful banners I have by the way, making them was probably the best use of 2 hours ever--I use them all the time)

BUT Rex was pretty thrilled in the morning with all the decorations and his presents.  We let him open one to wear to school that day, but it ended up being too big.  Nice try.

 Mistake #2: The rest of my day.  I did nothing but Rex birthday on his birthday.  As soon as I go him on the bus, I did a few dishes and made beds, put Henry down for a nap and sent Alice on an adventure with Dad so I could frost Rex's cake and make his birthday dinner--salmon with asparagus and mashed potatoes (at his request).  

BUT I like the way the cake turned out--easy and cute.  Thank you Pinterest.

 As soon as Alice and Dad got home, I was going to run down to the nearest Krispy Kreme 20 minutes away and then run back to take them to Rex's school.  Luckily, Greg stepped in and said the gas station 2 miles down the road has Krispy Kreme, so I went and picked those up instead.  Then we rushed off to Rex's school to take him Bojangles for lunch and donuts for his class.

Mistake #3: Bowling.  I got home just in time to welcome his friends who we were taking bowling.  But I overestimated the size of our van and underestimated the size of 6 car seats, so Greg ended up taking Alice in the truck and I got to drive 40 minutes to the farthest away bowling alley we could find while listening to Rex and three friends go crazy and holding the cake with one hand.  Did I mention we got in the car at exactly the time I usually put Henry down for a nap?  I thought he might sleep in the car.  I made a huge mistake.

When got to the bowling alley, I was in full teacher mode.  I made the kids line up and stay single file.

BUT the kids had a great time.  They shared; they took turns; they didn't fuss; they tried hard to follow the rules as much as their excited little bodies would let them; Rex got a spare; Derick got a spare; Alice got a spare; and Jack got a strike.  Henry wondered around in a half-asleep state with Grandma Libby.

Rex insisted on bowling somewhere he could wear the special shoes.

Rex bowling a spare on his first frame.

The kids trying really hard to follow the "Don't get your head knocked off by a returning bowling ball" rule.

Alice doing a victory dance.

Rex was very concerned about the score.

Jack after he got a strike.

Rex was a little upset that he didn't win.

Mistake #4: Bowling (yes, I said it twice--we just did too much in one day) After bowling we hustled home for dinner, and by hustle I mean it took an hour.  I had to take all the kids home--45 minutes to one neighborhood and then another 20 back to our house.  We really did pick the least convenient bowling alley.  Luckily, Greg drove separately so he got the dinner I'd made earlier in the day in the oven and all ready by the time Rex, Henry and I got home.   We had dinner and Rex discovered he doesn't really like salmon but refused to admit this because he'd been asking for it for so long.  Finally Henry had a no-nap melt down so I put him to bed around 6:45 and then Rex opened presents.

AND for once, he liked and played with everything.  It was a birthday miracle.

Rex got snap circuits--he's building a light in this picture.

He got a marble run from Grandma Pattie.

 So while I'm pretty sure this is the last full day birthday this kid is going to get because it just wore me out, Happy Birthday to Rex--the nerdiest, smartest, sweetest, kindest, most gregarious, and most inquisitive boy I know.  I hope he stays sweet and sensitive to the Spirit and even though I get annoyed daily by all his questions, I hope he keeps asking them.  He's to another year with Rex.