And the party. . .

This was the biggest birthday party we have ever given Luke either of our kids, yet surprisingly it required the least amount of preparation and was probably one of the smoothest. We have always had parties either at our home or at a local park because that is what he wanted. This year he wanted a roller skating party. I was down with that except that there was only one rink he wanted it at and it was not in our city. It required driving through a ridiculous construction zone freeway. The last party we went to there we were met with a line wrapped halfway around the building just to get in. But it was awesome because he got out there and did that roller skating thing all by himself.

We got on the computer one night and looked around the internet for fun places to party that were local and easy to access. We chose a place called Leapin' Lizards which was awesome. It had 8 or 9 inflatable play things, a big playground/climbing/slide thing and the party packages included absolutely everything from napkins to party favors. We had a party bouncer that was amazing. He took one look at the party and then knew who belonged and who didn't. Luke kept calling him his coach, as in, "Where is my coach? I need a drink of water." I just can't rave enough about this place and I would recommend it to anyone. When you consider all the things included, the price was reasonable to me--what we would have spent on birthday decor, plates, food, favors.

Will jumping with the big kids

 Will was in absolute heaven. He talked about that yellow castle for days, literally. The kid never stops jumping around on dry, flat, solid land. Putting him in a bounce house was like sending him back to his home planet.

Group shot with Izzy(?) the lizard.

I did my best attempt at a spiderman cake.  Thank you for action figures.

A cute bunch of kiddos.

 This picture below was one of the best features of the party. The kid-mob riot that happens at present-opening time drives me bananas. They had this giant inflatable chair that they plopped Luke in for presents and it totally gave me the space I needed. I didn't get a good shot of it though because I was standing to the back/side.

 When we got home, this is the first present he ripped from the package.

Look out. This kid is five and he means business.

And just for fun. . .

4 years old

Three years old

Two years old

One year old

Minutes old