It's so cliche I know...but time sure does fly. And it seems to speed up the older you get. My dad used to always say things like, "you blink, and all of a sudden, your child is 30", and I'd find it really hard to understand. Now, I think I get it. I can remember the day CW was born so clearly still as if it was only a few short years ago. I look at the big boy he has become and think, "how did we get here?" when only yesterday you were a tiny baby struggling to breastfeed and roll over and talk and walk.
This year instead of having a big party with a bunch of kids, CW chose to go to Great Wolf Lodge for his birthday. So Thursday afternoon, I picked him and his best friend up from school and off we went, stopping to pick up his friend's mom on the way. It was a loooonggg drive, thanks to rush hour plus US Thanksgiving. After a quick road side stop for dinner we arrived at Great Wolf just in time to check in and have a quick look around, hit the arcade for a bit, then the boys watched a movie and crashed. And so did the moms shortly after.
CW was obsessed with the arcade. Our strategy was to give the boys a set amount of money to spend and remind them countless times that when it was gone, it was gone, and there would be no more money for the arcade after that. Thankfully the strategy worked fairly well. Both boys used up some of their money on the first night and saved some for the second day. By the time their tokens were gone, they had amassed enough tickets for a boatload of stuff from the "redeem" counter! And luckily they were able to get more than the crappy plastic dinosaurs that they can usually only get with those things. CW came home with a toy airplane, some trick dice, trick gum, a fake police badge and some fangs.
The next morning we hit the waterpark. I was a bit afraid that CW wouldn't go near the waterslides because he tends to be a bit leery of rides in general. But thanks to a little peer pressure, he went on one slide. And then did that same one, over and over and over. But hey..that is better than nothing. In the afternoon we finally convinced him to try the Woolly Mammoth. It is a family waterslide with a big raft that holds up to four people. He pretty much screamed the whole way down but we praised him for trying it and I think he was glad he did, even though he may not have enjoyed it that much! I think his favourite part of the waterpark was the wave pool. He spent a good chunk of time there in the afternoon and was good and tired. The picture above was taken right after when his lips actually turned blue. Probably not a good sign! Thankfully that cleared up pretty quickly after we got him warmed up!
We spent another night watching movies and hanging out and then it was time to hit the road in the morning. I think it was the perfect amount of time there though. One night isn't really enough, two is just right.
Yesterday afternoon we mostly chilled out at home and watched movies. We also baked the cupcakes for the boy's family birthday dinner for today. With Candy Corn. Yup, that was his wish: to have candy corn on his birthday cupcakes! So we made them and ate some candy corn in the process.
This morning, CW had his karate class and at the class they told him he was eligeable to try for his yellow belt this afternoon. So at 2pm he went back for his "grading". DH called me and told me he failed and was really upset! But then it was all a big joke and he had actually passed. I'm so glad he passed but I was worried because I think he may have inherited my overwhelming fear of failure. Hope not. He's going to have to try things and stop being so scared of not succeeding at everything the first time, just not so sure how to do that because I have the same problem!
Today was the family dinner. I think we, and the grandparents, kind of felt the need to go overboard on presents since he didn't have a big party with lots of friends. So he ended up with a lot of loot. I think his favourite gift was the Simon Flash game, that I picked out, I have to add. He didn't seem enthused about it at first, but once he figured out how it worked, there was no stopping him. He also got a DS game from his friend, a big Lego sorter thing and lots of Lego, this creepy candy maker thing and some other Lego and a Canadian Mint collector's set from his grandpa that was also one of the favourites.
So all in all, a pretty good haul and I think he was really happy with it. In general actually he had a really well behaved day and I was impressed with the way he handled the opening of the gifts and everything today. I hope he goes for this type of thing next year...the big party with lots of kids always seems to end in overstimulation and tears and tantrums. Or maybe he is just growing up, who knows, but in any case this was way better for me than having to have the party!
In other news....my dad. He is okay and thankfully home in Toronto. He is scheduled to meet with the surgeon tomorrow to discuss what type of surgery he needs and how soon they can hopefully do it. I'm just crossing my fingers that he can get it done asap and be recovered enough to enjoy the holidays. It just scares me though. With my dad being almost 80 years old, any surgery is a big deal and I just hope that it isn't more serious than anticipated once they open him up. I hope we'll find out more tomorrow.
That's it for now. I'm wiped but happy to have survived another birthday....and looking forward to doing it all again next weekend for AK's birthday. Only this time, there will be princesses! We're celebrating early because otherwise her birthday is just way too close to xmas.
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