Danny Faces Off to Age 6

"Finally, I am free from age five!" Dramatic words from our lovable, hilarious, and, yes, dramatic Danny Boy on the morning of his sixth birthday. Evidently it's not fun to be one of the last kids in your class to turn another year older. But finally he has reached this great milestone, which we kicked off in grand style with his party on Sunday at the Sandy Springs Fun House.

The (in)famous Fun House is packed with a laser tag arena, big indoor playground, bounce house, and arcade games. What more could you possibly ask for, right? Maybe more photos, but that didn't happen, so use your imagination and enjoy views of his beloved hockey cookie cake and a cheesy pose with Parker.

For his actual birthday, I decided to surprise him at school by bringing Burger King to him for lunch. As Laura and I walked the halls headed to the cafeteria, we learned that Clare's team was the big winner for the 3rd grade Battle of the Books. She was definitely flushed with excitement, and I am so delighted for her! They get to move on to the Archdiocesan finals next week, so she is furiously preparing (she is her team's spokesperson). Adorable!


The day's delights continued as Danny was thrilled to see us for lunch and enjoyed our company immensely. During the lunch hour, to get the kids to quiet down a bit, the teachers had the Kindergartners sing a couple of songs from their upcoming musical, and then the First Graders sang the song from their class mass. Charming, all of it, especially because the kids were so proud to sing. Meanwhile, Laura strutted around, proud as a peacock to be hanging with the big kids and have them so interested in her. (I did feel a touch bad for the little girl who had a bag of Cheerios, which Laura definitely thought should have been hers.)

We spent a somewhat rare afternoon at home, chilling out and, in Danny's case, watching "Miracle" for the umpteenth time. We then enjoyed Papa John's (the lamb on a stick dinner was Sunday night, as that's a difficult feast to prepare on a weeknight) and Death by Chocolate. Yes, that's right, Danny eschewed the traditional cake in favor of this white trash dessert. Though, he did get a hockey cake out of the deal, so I suppose he wanted to feel well-rounded.


And, of course, presents. He had already received a generous assortment of gifts from the party attendees, and then on his actual birthday he opened the gifts from the family and met every heart's desire. While he tore through them at warp speed, I could tell he was genuinely thrilled with each one. The hockey gear did top the list, though, and when he put it all on he was very pleased with the outcome. We were pleased for him, too, but as Tim said, "He's really starting to look like a big kid." Sigh.

Happy, happy birthday, sweet boy!