A 5 Year Old's Birthday Weekend

On December 1, my youngest grandson turned 5.  That evening, his mother and father took him and his sister to the Corvette Diner in San Diego.  They had a wonderful time.  He played games and ate dinner in the Neon room.  There, if you place your hand on the table and then pick it up, a neon imprint of your hand is left on the table.  Cool.  Then, as he was eating his ice cream, he heard an announcement wishing him, by name, "Happy Birthday."  He was so excited.  After that, the wait staff came over and sang to him.  All this, together with a pirate hat made of balloons, made for a memorable birthday. 

On Friday, his kindergarten class celebrated with Rice Krispy Treats (his choice).  On Saturday, he had a "friends" party.  It was an old-fashioned ice cream and cupcake party (no bouncy house, no crafts, no clowns, no pony).  The ice cream was served in prepackaged cups from Smart and Final, the type that was sold with wooden spoons....popular years ago.  Seven friends attended and had fun running around the yard, playing with simple balsa planes and other toys, as well as writing on the patio cement with chalk.  The children had a simply wonderful time.

Sunday was the "family" party.  It was somewhat of a replay of Saturday except that the family stayed for dinner. After cupcakes and ice cream, the six children sat on the living room floor as the birthday boy opened his gifts.  It is always funny to see little children so interested in the gifts that they inch up closer and closer until they are surrounding the birthday child.  Then, someone takes initiative and tells the children to give the honoree space, which they do.  Their demeanor was very polite.  Then, little by little, they again slowly inch up closer to the child opening the birthday gifts.  It is cute to watch.

This past weekend will stay in the birthday boy's memory for quite some time, considering how many times he celebrated.  As for me, I will center on how much fun a simple old-fashioned birthday party can be.

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