6 years old!

We can hardly believe that John is 6 years old! He enjoys hearing about the time he spent inside mom's tummy and what he was like as a baby. He is excited to be a 1st grader next year. For his birthday this year the theme was Transformers. We had a friend party at Chuck-e-Cheese which was a lot of fun. We provided pizza, drinks and tokens and the kids had a great time. I brought brownies for dessert. I had put one of his Transformers, Optimus Prime to be exact, on the brownies as a decoration with the candles. But once he saw Optimus on there he just wanted to hold him. I don't remember if I even got a picture of the brownies with Optimus on top!

I took cupcakes, juice boxes and cheese and crackers to his class for snack on the day of his birthday. That night he got to pick where we had dinner. We had asked him on Sunday to think about where he would want to go. This is how the conversation went:

Mom= "John, where do you want to go for dinner on your birthday?"

John= "Um, is there a place called Denny's?"

M= "Yes."

J= "What kind of food do they have?"

M= "All kinds. Pancakes, eggs, hamburgers, mac n' cheese, grilled cheese. Things that you would like."

J= "Okay. I choose Denny's."

M= "Mark, where is the closest Denny's?"

Mark= "I don't know."

We figured out where the closest Denny's was, but by the night of his birthday John had changed his mind. He got Heeley's (shoes with a wheel in the heel) as one of his presents and was not about to leave the house or stop learning how to use them for dinner! There are no pictures from the day of his birthday because he refused to let me take any of him or the wonderful Transformers table decorations I had set up the night before!

We went to California on Saturday, April 19th to see Grandma and Grandpa Thompson and go to Disneyland. So on Sunday, April 20th John got to have an extended family party at Grandma's house. The two months leading up to the party and trip the kids were so excited. I get catalogs in the mail that sell themed party supplies. John cut out the Transformers page and was working on a letter to mail to Grandma Thompson to tell her that he wanted his party to look just like the one on the page. He never did get his letter off to Grandma, but he called her at least three different times with requests of what he wanted, how he wanted it to look and how we would "surprise" him the day of the party!

Grandma did an awesome job at filling every request! John has never had a pinata before and he requested an Optimus Prime one to be at his party, filled with candy and toys. Grandma found an Optimus Prime pinata! This thing was taller than John! He looked like a Mexican wrestler, but we taped an Optimus Prime party mask on him and he was perfect! After the kids all had a turn hitting him and getting candy, John went to town on him! He beat that guy to pieces! Then some of the wonderful Uncles suggested that we burn him. Grandpa was soon outside with the lighter and putting the pieces in a metal bucket. He went up in flames! The kids were so excited! John even got to be the Fire Fighter and put the flames out. This moment will forever be burned in his memory (pun intended). I just hope that he does not expect to always burn the pinata when we are done with it!

We had a wonderful time with our extended family. The kids had fun playing with their cousins. That does not happen often enough for us, so it was a welcomed time. Thank you to our Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents for presents, food and good times. We had a great time talking and laughing with all of you. Thank you for donating your weekend to us to spend time as a family. We love our family and our 6 year old, John!