Going on 6

Owen turned 5 last Monday. Merriment and frivolity were had by all. We started the weekend-long celebration on Saturday. Kim and I decorated a cake.

You are probably asking yourself, "Why don't they decorate cakes for a living? The use of white frosting instead of blue for the water is pure genius! And what deep meaning is behind the pirate captain laying down in his ship?" Out of the kindness of our hearts, we don't want to put all of the other cake decorators out of business, so we'll stick with nursing and selling phones.

Owen wanted to have a party this year at the newest and hippest joint in town. It's called Pirate Island Pizza. Other than it being really dark in "The Swamp", it was great. A few friends from the neighborhood and Owen's preschool came along, and we invited the Kemp family too. For those of you that don't know, Gina Kemp and I went to the same high school in Auburn, Washington. Our kids love each other, so it's been fun hanging out every now and then.




This guy in the blue shirt with the yellow stripes is Captain Weakbeard. He was trying to help the kids win tickets to redeem for fabulous prizes.


Rhett tried to contribute to the ticket booty as well.

(I apologize for not having any pictures of the party planner. Kim, you were a beautiful wench.)

Owen was showered with Batman, Indiana Jones, and dinosaur gifts. Kim and I decided to get him a scooter since the whole bike thing from last summer didn't turn out like we thought it would.

Thank you to everyone who came to the party or gave Owen a gift. He absolutely loved every minute of his birthday weekend, except for the new 1pm church time on Sunday. They should make a rule in the church that if you have kids under 6 years old, you can go to the earlier time, even if it isn't your ward.

Happy birthday Owen! We love you and are so proud of you! In fact, I'm going to list 5 things I love about Owen, since he turned 5, and that seems to be the thing bloggers do for their kids on their birthday.

1. Owen has a pretty strong grasp of the English language, but I absolutely love when he overcompensates his words.

Example:
Owen: Mom, I want a bolden arrow someday.
Mom: What's a bolden arrow?
Owen: You know, it's something where you get something that looks like an arrow and you put it in this stretchy thing and you pull it back and let go and you can shoot stuff with the arrow.
Mom: Oh.

2. Owen adores his baby brother. I am not exaggerating when I say this. Owen stepped on Rhett's chest when Rhett was a newborn, but that has been the only time in Rhett's 10 months on this earth when Owen has purposely done anything to hurt him. Owen cannot let Rhett go by without smothering him with kisses, hugs, or chubby cheek pats.

3. Owen loves to follow rules. We stole a family rule from one of my friends that if you fart at the dinner table, you have to take your plate to the bathroom and finish eating in there. Owen amended the rule for lunch. You get 2 chances at lunch.

4. I'm sure every other kid is exactly the same, but I love when Owen hears the garage door open and runs out to see me or Kim coming home from work. He is so happy when he his with his family.

5. And finally, this is a bit of a cop-out, but I love that there are a lot more than 5 reasons why I love Owen so much. He seriously impresses me every day, and I am so grateful that he is my son.