It was a lot of fun to spend time with friends in the sun for the afternoon while celebrating another year in my son’s life. He is such a joy, even in the “worst” of times. He’s been having a rough day or two with stomach problems, so he hasn’t enjoyed himself as much as I had hoped he would. He couldn’t even eat his cake So we opted to skip the special birthday dinner and let him get to sleep early on a bland meal. Chris deserves props for many things these past few days, not in the least for keeping the kids highly entertained with water balloon games, but most notably for cleaning up the bathroom and clothes when Ethan’s …er… stomach problems emptied themselves inside his pants when he couldn’t make it to the bathroom. Poor buddy!

Side note: I’m officially an Oregonian now! Mandatory photo ID check to board the lunch cruise forced me to finally get an Oregon driver’s license Friday morning. I did pass the test, but I got several wrong that were REALLY hard. Who knows what it means when your vehicle approaches a horseback rider on a rural street and they raise their arm straight up? Huh?!

Additional side note: Ethan awoke this morning to follow arrows to the steps around the corner of his room, where a few gifts awaited him: a take-apart car from Nana and Papa, a build-your-own rocketship from Paw Paw and Maw Maw, and from us: glow in the dark stars, a handsewn birthday crown, and a small batmobile. I didn’t finish the rocket ship he asked me to knit him (though I stayed up til almost 1am working on it)… alas, the best laid plains. And after all that, you know what he said after finding all of his gifts waiting for him? “Hey- where’s the squirt gun?!” Ay mi!

So I am birthdayed OUT. I have done nothing but prep for this birthday for the last 48 hours and I’m ready to CRASH. Good thing I have a nice long day of work tomorrow with tons of stuff to catch up on (seriously- I welcome this- anything is better than more birthday work!)

Final side note: My roomates new baby is SO FREAKIN ADORABLE!