Braden Turns 6!

We celebrated Braden's 6th birthday on September 22nd. It was a Thursday, and public schools were off for the day, so we got to do lots of fun things. Every year, right as his birth minute approaches, we get out his baby book and look through it together. Then, I give him a kiss during the exact minute he was born. He loves looking through his book, and I love to reminisce over the memories of his birth. The children's birthdays are almost as special for me as they are for them, because they mark the anniversary of some of the most special days of my life as well. Lydia still had Joy School that day, so Braden and I got to go to Wal-Mart together and buy last-minute items for his birthday party the following day. After we picked Lydia up, we had lunch together at Peter Piper Pizza. It is a restaurant kind of like Chuck E. Cheese, but much smaller. But he has been wanting to go there for ages. The kids played for hours.

The next day we celebrated with his friends at a local park. Braden decided this year he wanted an airplane birthday party. So I made invitations on the computer that looked like airline tickets, and even made a special logo for "Braden Airlines". He and I arrived at the park an hour before the party started and decorated the pavilion together with blue tablecloths and blue and white balloons and streamers. He also picked out some of his favorite toy airplanes and taped them to the columns. When his friends arrived, they made foam gliders. Then they played and ate lunch (home made sub sandwiches -- Braden's favorite). Then they played with our parachute, ate cake and ice cream and took turns swinging at a jet-shaped pinata. I made a simple cake with blue icing and I wrote "Happy Birthday Braden" in white to look like sky writing. Then I put a toy airplane on it. He had a lot of fun.