Kids like Roller Skating!

When we were trying to figure out what kind of birthday party Ben wanted, he commented about how it seems like it's been the longest year ever. I remember that feeling, you probably do, too. How time seemed to crawl in between Christmas and birthdays.

I'm gonna go on and say that we made the wait worth it.

Ben had a skating party!!







I haven't been skating since the mid 80's at Thunderbird Roller Rink in Plano...seriously.

I gottat tell ya, it smelled the same, it looked the same, there was a snack bar and a disco ball....I don't remember it being so loud, though. Hmmmm.

Anyway, it was great!

Ben and his buds seemed to have a pretty good time, too. There were many spills, but only on the skating floor. There were presents, candy, wicked cool cupcakes. We had it all.










Below is my favorite picture. It might not look like anything special, but I can't tell you how many times I have seen this exact scene. I've known these guys since they were Kindergarteners and have seen them gather just like this for years. Good stuff!





Oliver even got to try skating. They had skates for the wee ones that fit over their little shoes. We knew that it was going to either be super awesome or an epic fail. HE LOVED IT!!!!








That's enough pics for him! Let's GO!






I'm not sure that I have ever seen Oliver have that much fun. Really. We were going around the rink, I was holding his little hand, and he said, "I so happy." Melted my soul...in a good way.

Oliver asked morning and evening for the following 3-4 days, if we could go skating. That is not an exaggeration. Bless him, he asked every way his big 'ol 2 1/2 yr old brain could come up with, too.

"You wan go skating?"
"We go skating?"
"I like skating. You like skating?"
"We GO skating?"
"We go SKATING?"
"WE GO SKATING!"

This party was big fun for everyone. Ben and his friends skated. The parents of Ben and his friends skated. The people at the roller rink took care of all the details so that all you had to worry about was making it around the skate floor and back to the table for some cupcakes without falling. Not bad.

Top Of The Food Chain

I guess when you hit "The Big Time", a.k.a. 4th grade, it's just no big deal. No sweat. Same 'ol same 'ol.

You get up, put on your shorts and t-shirt, grab your perfectly worn in backpack ("NO WAY" was the response I got when I asked if it was time for a new backpack) and walk through the doors of the school like you own the place.

Gone are the days of ripping the tag off the brand new crinkly backpack the night before school. Gone are the days of checking your bag of school supplies 3 and 4 times just to daydream about what kind of things you will be doing with them. And what happened to the anxiety over that first morning in the classroom with your brand new teacher?

Maybe he just felt a calm cool about where he stands in the ranks of the elementary school.

See, this year, the 4th graders are in the 5th grade pod. The 4th graders are the ones with the lockers. This year, the 4th graders like Ben are the top of the elementary food chain.

Ben goes to a school that has both an elementary and a middle school. His school is part of a pilot program that has moved the 5th graders to the middle school side.

What this all means for Ben is that now his is elementary royalty...with a locker!!

He's already playing it pretty cool. When I asked him: how his first day was, does he like his teacher, is it awesome to be in the 5th grade pod and have a locker, the response I got to ALL questions was something like, "meh".

I suddently had to fight back my visual of Ben walking down the hall with his leather jacketed T-Birds in tow, combing back his slick hair to keep his duck tail in check.

He shouldn't play it too cool at home, though, because I have this on him...



Tell ya what...I feel bad for the poor 4th graders last year who have waited since Kindergarten to be a big 'ol 5th grader and are now sitting at the bottom of the middle school totem pole just waiting to be scalped. ouch

Wish You Were Here!

Welcome to Belize! White sands, crystal blue water, schools of fish tickling your legs as they scoot by. The beautiful coral, the cocktails on the beach. The sunsets, oh the sunsets...amazing.

Ok, we're not in Belize, we're at.....



....the Prairie Grove Aquatic Park. Whah whah whaaaaaaah.

It doesn't sound as good as Belize...but it IS fun.



They have corndogs!



And water slides!! I'm not talking about those sad slides we had when I was growing up, either. You remember, they had about 7 steps on the ladder and spit a tiny stream of water on half the slide so that you would burn off one thigh and buttock on your way down, and then bang your heel on the side of the pool once you hit the water b/c it was so close to the side of the pool.

No, these slides are the real deal and Ben LOVED them! (I enjoyed them, too.)









So, we didn't escape to some tropical getaway, but we did escape the house and beat the heat. That's close to the same thing, right?

And the bike was happy.....

Once upon a time there was a little boy that got a GREAT bike for his 6th birthday. [Seriously, folks, this was no Walmart special]

The little boy loved his bike and admired his bike...from a safe distance.

And the bike was happy.

A year passed and the bike, feeling sad and taking up needed space in the garage, moved to the attic where he could watch the boy from above. He loved the boy, so he would wait.

And the bike was happy.

Two more years passed. The bike had a nice life in the attic. There was extreme heat and extreme cold...but he was an "extreme" kind of vehicle. He had watched the boy grow and was now watching another little boy that reminded him very much of his blonde owner.

And the bike was happy.

A month and a half away from the boy's 9th birthday, the boys parents cleaned out the attic. The boy, being reminded that the bike was in the attic, wanted the bike to come down.

And that made the bike happy.





The bike was cleaned and shined and had its inhibiting training wheels removed. The bike heard the little boy say that he wanted to learn to ride the bike.

And the bike was happy!

The boy, the bike and the boy's daddy went to a nearby parking lot to learn to ride the bike. Tensions were high.





Team Ben was ready to support the boy and his bike. See, check out his shirt.



Balance was tested, but the bike was very gentle with the boy.







And the bike was happy.

Team Ben cheered for the boy and the bike. There was a sense of community. The crowd ran with them!







And the bike was happy.

And as the bike supported its rider and the rider trusted its bike, there was....





SUCCESS!



And the bike and the boy were so happy.





And they lived happily ever after.