It’s official! Jake’s 5. And true to form, we ushered in the start of his 5th year in style…racing style!I started asking Jake how he wanted to celebrate his 5th birthday shortly after his 4th birthday party. He said he wanted a “Race Car” birthday. OK, great! How on earth do you throw a “Race Car” party?! I didn’t stress about it too much. I figured he’d change his mind several times in throughout the year, so I had nothing to worry about. Well, guess what…he didn’t change his mind. By mid-summer, it was pretty obvious we were going to have to find a way to throw Jake a race car bash. So while I struggled with ways of throwing a racing-themed party at home, Duke came up with the brilliant idea of go-kart racing! After a few phone calls, it was all set up. We were Speed Zone bound!
It was a great day for a party. The weather was warm & dry. Most of Jake’s pals were able to come. Everybody had a great time zooming around the track. Judging by the pictures, it’s hard to tell who was having more fun – the boys or the dads. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a kid’s birthday party where it was mostly dads. Usually party-duty falls on the mom’s to-do list.
After an hour of racing, we had a little fun with video games and then went into the party room for pizza, cake & ice cream. Of course, the cake had to be about racing too. Jake & I scoured the metroplex looking for racing props to put on his cake. We finally (and I do mean FINALLY) found these tiny NASCARS. (I’ve got to give Walmart credit here – I hate going to that place, but I usually find pretty good stuff there.)
After cake, there was time for a few more turns around the track.
We actually celebrated Jake’s birthday the weekend before his special day this year. That meant we still had to find a way to make Jake’s actual birthday special. So, we started the day off with a Birthday Waffle Sundae – complete with candle. Then Jake went off to school.Jake attends two schools this year – Teddy Bear Junction (TBJ) on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays; Infinite Bounds (IB) on Tuesdays & Thursdays. It was Wednesday, so that meant he would be at TBJ - a ridiculously rigid, nut-free, home-baked-goods-free school. They gave me an “approved list” of compliant snacks that I could send in with Jake to share with his class mates. I’m sorry, there’s just something wrong about sending your kid to school on his birthday with a box of Fruit Gushers instead of a cake. But I’ll blog about that some other time. Suffice it to say, that I prefer the anything-goes atmosphere at IB much better than the restrictive style of TBJ.
While Jake & friends were enjoying their fruit gushers, I hatched a plan to surprise him by inviting some of his IB buddies over for an afternoon of fun. So with Lila as my faithful sidekick, I loaded Brody & Finn into the car and headed to TBJ. My partners in crime hid quietly outside the classroom door and yelled HAPPY BIRTHDAY, when Jake walked out. It was a lot of fun. As fun as Speed Zone? Probably not, but at least it made a middle-of-the-week birthday a little more interesting than just hanging with Mom, Dad & Sister.
So, what will next year bring? Who knows. I haven’t asked yet, but I’m sure Jake’s got something in mind. Until then, we'll see ya around the track!
