The Jake Games - The Rest of the Story, The Rest of the Cupcakes, The Rest...Ahhhhh

OK.  Last birthday post.  I promise...at least until December when it's Delila's turn.  So, Jake's actual 'birthday party' took place on Friday, October 1st.  As you may recall from this post, we decided to go with a home party this year.  The guest list quickly ballooned. We panicked a little. We regrouped.  And we survived -- and even had some fun along the way.

At the final count, 27 kids showed up ready to party.  Fortunately for us, Mother Nature showed not just mercy, but extreme favor by providing us with an absolutely gorgeous evening for an outdoor party.  The only reason anyone needed to set foot inside the house was to use 'the facilities'.  All the fun, food and games took place in the front yard.  While we waited for all the guests to arrive, the kiddos entertained themselves on the seemingly endless supply of ride-on toys & sporting goods that have amassed in our garage since we moved in four years ago.  (Where on earth did all this stuff come from?!)  Duke had everything all set up in the driveway and the kids needed no coaxing to help themselves to the fun.  It was a little surprising when the sprinklers went off.  The kids found it hysterical and didn't seem to mind getting a little wet - especially since we'd prepared them in advance for a little messy fun.  We thought it was pretty funny too...until we couldn't manage to get the sprinklers to stay turned off.  Duke made sure the switch was in the off position, but 60 seconds later they were on again!  It happened a couple of times, and each instance was greeted with squeals of delight from the kids.  We're increasingly convinced that there are gremlins living in our garage.  Not only do the sprinklers turn on a will, our garage door seems to have a mind of it's own as well.  Very strange.

After all the guests arrived, the Garage Cafe opened for business.  The juice was flowing and the pizza was plentiful.  Maybe a little too plentiful.  **Note to self:  31 kids & a handful of parents will not eat 16 large pizzas.  **Another note to self:  No man, woman, child, nor combination of all three can live on pizza leftovers for more than 3 days without swearing off pizza for a long, LONG time.

After the kids were fueled up on pizza, it was time for The Jake Games to begin.  This was Duke's part of the party.  We divided the kiddos up into teams and then set them up with a series of sports challenges, including:  hockey, lacrosse, soccer, basketball, football (of course), and a relay race.  

The kids did great!  They followed the directions and worked together pretty well on their randomly generated teams.  I also have to give a shout out to the parents who helped keep the games moving along.  It would have been utter chaos without them. 

 

After the games were complete, it was time for another rousing rendition of that classic kid favorite, the Happy Birthday song!

Then the wish was made, the candles were blown out, and the kids dove in and devoured most of the 61 cupcakes I painstakingly baked and decorated.  I'd say that part took about...oh...60 seconds, maybe.

And then...the moment everyone had been waiting for.  The big finale.  The water balloon fight!!

Oh yes!  It was wet!  It was crazy!  Not everyone enjoyed it to its full potential (Delila).  But it was good clean fun.  And Mimi & Bubba get the credit for it.  They're the ones who spent the entire afternoon filling ~200 balloons...and popping a few too.  Poor Mimi got quite wet in the process, and I'm sure Bubba's hands cramp up just thinking about the experience - but they were really good sports about it, and it was without a doubt, the pinnacle of the party.  Well...

...Jake might argue that point a little.  After all, he's the kid that got to open all the presents.  That part was pretty fun too.

And that's it.  There is no more...at least not until next year.  Will there be a 2nd annual Jake Games?  I don't know.  This years games were pretty fun.  Maybe after a year's rest....

Jake Turns 6 in a BIG Way

Well, we had a birthday in our house recently.  Jake turned 6! And true to form, we celebrated in a BIG way.

The first fantastic thing that happened was that Mimi & Bubba flew in for the momentous occasion.  They got into town in time to greet Jake after school.

There was a big surprise waiting for Jake after school.  While he was busy learning stuff, all the grown ups were busy giving his room a new Big Boy look.

Think he liked it?  Judging by that grin on his face, I'd say it was a successful redo.

Jake actually knew his room was getting painted.  He helped pick out the colors.  He wanted all the walls painted yellow - since that's his favorite color and all.  But, as our painter reminded us...a little yellow goes a long way.  It took a little convincing, but eventually Jake gave in to the idea of a nice sunshiney yellow behind his bed and a nice sky blue for the rest of the walls.

The walls were hung with art, shelves, & sports memorabilia of all kinds. No doubt about it, it's a boys room.

Of course, we had to include plenty of space for all of his trophies.

For his birthday dinner, Jake requested a "healthy meal" of tilapia and broccoli.  (Can I just say how proud I am of my  kid's fantastic relationship with healthy food?!)  This was followed by one of everybody's favorite desserts - Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie.  Mmmm, mmmm, GOOD!!  Actually, it's not one of Bubba's favorites, but he managed to choke down a piece anyway.  Thanks for making the sacrifice, Bubba.  I know it wasn't easy.

Then...finally...on to the moment he'd been waiting for all week.  The PRESENTS!!  Actually, he'd been patiently been waiting to open this particular gift for about a month.  The present in this picture is from Jake's best friend Lukas who lives in Germany.  His dad brought it over earlier in the month, and poor Jake had been staring at it for what I'm sure seemed like forever.

It's no surprise that it was the first one he went for.

Legos!!  A sure-fire hit!!

And a special surprise in the bottom of the bag...a new beer cap to add to his collection!

The rest of the presents from the family stuck to a familiar and favorite Jake theme...football.  A new University of Texas football jersey...

...a Jerome Bettis figure...

...and the piece de resistance...a Pittsburgh Steelers football field floor mat!  Oh!  Let me die and go to heaven right now!!  Could it possibly get any better than this?  Why yes it could, but you've got to come back tomorrow to see just how much better!

Jake's 5th Birthday

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!