Celebrating Andrew's Birthday

Last night we went out to a fun pizza place. As soon as John walk in the door from an overnight business trip we were headed out the door to celebrate Andrew's 8th birthday! Thankfully there was no line so we were seated immediately.

As soon as we ate-- which was really quick because the kids wanted to go to the fun zone-- we were off riding rides and playing games.

Alex and Dennis watched the older kids ride this crazy ride that spins as fast as you can make it go.

Of course Rachel and Julia had their pods spinning out of control!

It really turned Alex off the idea of riding anything! Thanks alot guys!

However, he loved this dinosaur and resigned to sitting on it for the whole evening. However, Dennis had other ideas! He pulled me toward the car ride and soon he was getting inside this truck. Not wanting to be one-upped by his little brother, Alex quickly screamed that he wanted to go too.

And guess what! They both loved it! The highlight of the evening for me was watching my two boys enjoy this ride. They were thrilled when we let them ride it twice!

Andrew had fun at this little shooting gallery-- and he had pretty good aim too!

Dennis the fearless pointed to this ride... so Julia went on with him to give him a pep talk if need be. Well sad to say, the need was there as soon as the ride started. You should have seen Dennis' face--- priceless. But he made it through and as Alex watched you could see that he was glad that he had passed on the ride.

As everyone continued playing games and riding different attractions I could see that Alex was loosening up. It clicked in his mind that this is a place to have fun with your family!

As Alex walked around he shook his little toosh to the music playing in the background. It was adorable!

Anna, Rachel, and Sveta really enjoyed the bumper cars! Sveta was screaming with excitement the whole time!

As we were getting ready to leave, Alex asked if he could ride the Frog ride. I made sure that he was serious--- and he said yes. I was half expecting him to have the same reaction as Dennis.

But that little turkey had a blast and laughed and smiled the whole time! I couldn't believe that in the course of one evening Alex went from a scared, whiny, little boy who was deathly afraid of rides to an outgoing happy boy wanting to ride everything he could!

Between everyone in our family, we earned over one thousand tickets. And a few of us thought it would be a wonderful idea to give them all to Andrew so that he could pick something out for his birthday. All but one thought that was a great idea, so Andrew picked out a skateboard and lava lamp. The one child who wasn't too happy with the plan needed to be reminded that it was because of Andrew that we even got to come to this pizza fun place. And that it was us-- Mom and Dad and Grandma and Grandpa, who paid for all of the games and rides that she played-- not her. And I asked her if she would be okay if everyone donated their tickets to her when it was her birthday. Afterall, when we all put our tickets together, the prize was substantial instead of a bunch of junk that would be lost or broken within a few days. In her heart she knew it was the right thing, but her mind often tells her something else-- so of course we heard three or four times about how it was disappointing to have given away all the tickets like she worked to win the tickets for nothing. "No, it wasn't for nothing. It was for Andrew. Which by the way, did you get him anything for his birthday? How I wish that I could buy all of you presents by playing games and winning tickets. Really this is something you need to just let go of and be thankful for the good fun and games and rides you got to do tonight."

Anyway, we all had a fun time-- and I think Julia summed the evening up the best!

"Thanks Andrew for being born!"

And last but not least, I insisted in being in at least one picture.

With my Andrew of course! Happy Birthday big boy!

P.S. The cake that Julia baked was not eaten because there was a dessert bar. We brought it home. Oh well, we'll eat it tonight.