Bubba's B-Day

My baby turned 8 years old a week and 1/2 ago. Holding that teeny little infant in my arms seems so long ago... In our family, we take birthdays very seriously. Having experienced what it means to deal with a child who has a potentially terminal illness, we feel that every year we have been able to share with our boys deserves a big celebration! This year, we did a Chuck E Cheese/Slumber Party combo for Bubba. Actually, he really only wanted the slumber party...but I "forced" him to have the Chuck E Cheese party, just in case he didn't get any takers on the slumber party. I think a lot of parents are more wary now of letting their children sleep over at another family's home (I'm one of them). Luckily though, we did get one little boy to stay for the full night and one who stayed till ~10:00. Bubba was THRILLED - it was his first sleepover at our house. I'm still glad we did the Chuck E Cheese party though - that way all the family and some of the younger kids got to share Bubba's birthday, too.


As you can see, he had NOOOO fun at Chuck E Cheese's. :) Actually, the only thing he didn't like was that they made him wear this ridiculous inflatable crown while they sang him Happy Birthday. When the song was over, that crown was immediately removed from his head and he was trying to let the air out of it so there wouldn't be any chance of them making him put it back on! I guess he's finally reached that age where PLAYING at Chuck E. Cheese's is fine, but having a party there is too "babyish". :(
I feel old...



The best surprise of the day though, was the limo ride! My cousin's husband works PT for a limo service as a side job and had come to Chuck E Cheese's for the party straight from work - with limo. When the party was wrapping up, he offered to take the kiddos back to our house in the limo - they LOVED it. Bubba really thought that he was the s**t, pulling up to his house in that thing. I told my cous, that he had just given Bubba the best present ever - what a cool memory for Bubba and his friends.




Slumber party went well, too. The men-folk all camped out in the back yard, which meant I got the house all to myself. :) Bubba really solidified some great friendships through this whole party deal as well. That, for me, was the best part!

Whew! Well, I think I have finished my party throwing responsibilities for this year... no more birthdays in our family till March. I guess I'll have a hard time topping this party next year... :)