So, Luken turned seven on Sunday, October 17. Sigh. I asked him not to, but he seemed to have other plans. :P
On Friday morning, I took him to pick out some donuts to share with his 1st grade class at school, which they enjoyed in the afternoon. Keeley and I stayed at school for the Friday morning assembly, where his birthday was announced, and he got to go up in front of the whole school and receive a new pencil!
Later, Keeley and I joined him at school again, this time for lunch, and brought him his requested McDonalds. :)
Right upon pick-up at 3:00, I whisked him away and told him we had to run a very special errand to pick up a gift that wouldn't have gotten here on time through regular mail, so we had to drive out to the airport, and someone would come out and hand it off to us. :D
What he DIDN'T know was that Grandma and Grandpa were coming out for a visit for the weekend!! It was cool to see his happy surprise when we pulled in and they stood up and peeked in his window!! Both kids were giddy with happiness! Such fun!
Later that evening, we all went out to our favorite chicken restaurant for dinner, and then stopped at school to check out the Fall Festival, and let Don and Carol peek around in the school and see Luken's classroom, and all the other places he spends his days!
On Saturday, his baseball team had a game, and we all watched and cheered him on! His team won, woohoo!! Don and Carol were very happy to get a chance to see him play!
Saturday evening, Grandman and Grandpa babysat so Todd and I could go out for dinner alone. :) We sat on a patio and enjoyed a leisurely dinner in beautiful weather! So nice!
Sunday was the big day - Luken's birthday and party!
He started out by opening a few presents!
Dragons eat Legos, don't you know? ;)
When Ms. Keeley got up, she was happy to broadcast that Luken is now seven!!
Grandpa and Gram had sent a Star Wars pancake mold set, and I did my best to make some up!
More presents! A remote controlled WALL-e!
Keeley was VERY enamored with Grandpa on this visit!! <3
For his party, Luken had chosen a place called Going Bonkers, which has a huuuuuge indoor play area with a climbing maze full of bouncy things, slides, and other great fun!
The first hour was spent playing on the equipment.
Our friend, Noah!
Ethan, Hailey, and Noah!
Silly Hailey!
Luken and his friend, Mason, went for a ride!
Here is my sweet Super-Bub!! <3
Whack-a-Mole!
Giggling Girls!
Time for the party room!!!
In the party room, the kids enjoyed some pizza and drinks!
Luken and Seth! :)
Ethan, Dominic, and Jacob!
His friend, Conner, made a hangman game on the table paper, in honor of Luken! :)
Look! It's me! I was there! :D (Photo credit: Nina)
This must mean it's time for CAKE!!
Luken had requested a Superman theme for his party. It is VERY difficult to find Superman items out there right now! I know there is a new movie in the works, and I am certain that in a couple of years, it will be EVERYWHERE, but by then, I won't need it anymore...
Anyway, I found a cute Superman figure on eBay. It apparently came with a box of Post cereal at some point, but it made an awesome cake topper!
Here is my creation, as inspired by several photos I found online...
These buildings were made from fondant, which I rolled out flat and cut out fairly free-form. I had been stumped on how to make windows, and Todd came up with the BRILLIANT suggestion to use Legos! They worked PERFECTLY, and I just love the way they turned out!
Back to the party.... time for candles! First, a couple of photos of me and my little guy with the cake!! <3
This is neighbor-Patrick, photobomber extraordinaire! :P
(I had been told there was a funny photo in the bunch. Haha!!)
Time for candles and singing!
Then, everyone at up the entire cake! Yes, the whole thing!! It was my specialty cake, chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!!! Yum, yum!
Present time!!
A cool Nerf gun!!
A Super-Score! Superman stainless-steel water bottle!
He received LOTS of great toys and game from his wonderful friends! Thanks, everyone!
Then, it was time to line up for a group photo.
(Look how sweet Hailey and Keeley are in the bottom-left corner! Best buds! <3 )
At this point, everyone was given a cup full of arcade tokens and sent upstairs to play!
Mason went for a motorcycle ride.
Jacob and Patrick enjoyed some air hockey.
Keeley had Grandpa at her beck and call, and enjoyed it immensely!
Lots of tickets!
Hailey caught some popcorn.
Jake shot something. ;)
Todd played Deal or No Deal and won a bunch of tickets!
Todd shot some deer.
The next-door-neighbors took a shot at DoND. Patrick won 2 whole tickets! :P
Party winding down... goofing with a buddy!
Two awesome little boys!
Once we were out of game tokens, it was time to turn the tickets in for prizes! The kids enjoyed picking out tiny dinosaurs, pencils, Princess tattoos, candy bracelets, and the like. :)
We said good-bye to our party-goers, and then headed off for some dinner. Luken chose Red Lobster, and we had a nice dinner. Grandma let Luken have the cherry from her drink!
Then, the staff sang "Happy Birthday" to Luken!
Then it was time to go home and wind down a bit and get ready for bed. School, work, and a plane flight home awaited on Monday. :(
Luken really loved his birthday, and had SUCH a good time spending time with Grandma and Grandpa, and all of his friends at the party! Thanks, everyone, for making his special day such a fantastic one!!!
