Max turns fives years old

Max turned five this year. We had a small party for him. Very small. Like one other couple and their two kids kind of small. We hadn't planned it that way though, and he certainly wasn't lacking for celebrations. Sometimes small parties are very nice too.

You see, just as we were starting to make the invitation rounds for his birthday weekend, we got invited to spend the day at my sister's lake house that same weekend. She had planned a BBQ with my immediate family and my aunts from our of town. We haven't had many chances to visit with my family at large and my aunts were only around for that one week, so this was going to be a significant day. Max's party got rescheduled at the last minute and almost all of his & our friends already had plans for the new date.

Now, going to the BBQ at my sister's house was great fun for all of us. It was wonderful to see everyone together of course, and there was no shortage of food or fun to be had. Max had requested chocolate cake for his birthday, and one of the many desert-type items were homemade chocolate mini cupcakes. Not wanting to disappoint the boy in any way we agreed to pass the cupcakes off as "birthday cupcakes." Max (and Lauren) also had a great time playing with their cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents. They played games, blew bubbles, and went swimming just before a giant thunderstorm rolled over the lake. In addition, my father's birthday is a few days after Max's, and this party fell right between the two. They each got birthday wishes and a few presents to honor the day.





The following weekend we had Max's "official" birthday celebration. Our friend Joy and her family were able to join us for the event. They have one daughter around Max's age and another who is an infant, so the kids had someone to play with and someone to coddle over as well. The kids worked together to "help" Dorothy decorate Max's birthday cake. The party was loosely a "firehouse" theme and the cake mold was in the shape of a fire truck. (Although the decorations from the kids... very much not like a fire truck.) Of course there was also lots of running and yelling and acting like children both in and out of the pool and sprinkler. We BBQ'd up a bunch of food, ate a lot of the firetruck cake, and then the parents relaxed while the kids ran and yelled some more. I think everyone had a good time, and our small little party was just lovely.






One the funny things about spreading out Max's birthday celebration(s) is that he thought you got a year older each time you had a party. (Although I must admit, when we're chasing all these kids around, sometimes I feel that way too!) He had mentioned while decorating his cake that he was six now. When we corrected him that he was only five he stated "No Mommy, I was five last week. First you're four then you're five then you're six!" I think we've got him straightened out on that little detail now. So yep, Max is five years old and he's doing great!

-Josh