Happy 5th Birthday, Sean!

The kids had fun running around freely in a big play structure.
The attendant leading the jungle animal game.

Sean's Diego cake - we gave him and Noah a GFCF version.

Note the girls' face. They couldn't help it!

The cake was a hit amongst the kids and adults liked tiramisu and chocolate ganache.

Sean likes all the presents he opened so far.

It's hard to believe my little boy turned five yesterday... Five sounds like such a big number for my little boy, but he is growing up so fast and left the toddler days for good. It's the age where the memories stick for a long time, so all we wish for him is to have a healthy and generally happy year.

He's been anticipating the Saturday's big event for the longest time. I've used it to bribe him to go to bed, I used it to threaten him if he doesn't obey me... "If you don't go to bed right now, maybe you wouldn't get a Diego cake at your birthday party!" and that is all I had to say for him to jump in bed. Sean and I used to go visit the QFC in Crossroad Mall to look at the pictures of the Diego cake before going to see Jessica on Wednesday. He was so excited he could hardly wait.

The party was a big success! The birthday boy and the guests played at the play area at the YMCA for the first 50 minutes or so and then moved on to the party room for a cake. All his favorite friends were there and he could not be happier. All the children looked like they were having fun, too. They were all busy playing and I didn't see anyone looking bored. The gals at the Y came up with a jungle animal game where they play a jungle themed music and when they stop, the children must imitate an animal they call out. The kids had fun dancing and imitating the animals. Some kids were jamming pretty hard and looked pretty funny.

Amy worked very hard to decorate and set up the party room. I was busy running around, chatting with parents and taking pictures. The room looked great with Diego decorations, blue and orange streamers with some balloons. The table was set with Diego plates and party hats. I lined up a chocolate ganache cake, tiramisu and apple pie for adults. I also made fresh salsa in the morning, so served with tortilla chips. Starbucks coffee is a staple in my parties now. It comes in a box and ready to serve! Very handy!

We lit five candles on the much anticipated Diego cake (24 cupcakes under Diego decorations) and we sang happy birthday song for Sean. He was smiling big and could not be happier. When the time came to blow off the candle flames, he inhaled deeply and released the air. However, he wasn't blowing out air with the typical o-shaped mouth, so the air didn't have much force. He had to blow for many times before he was able to blow off all the candles. The girls sitting next to him, Aly and his friend Leslie were trying to help by blowing air, too, and Sean didn't much care for that at all. The last two was the hardest and he kept getting closer and closer to the candles to the point his eyes were crossed. And since the air wasn't coming out from his mouth much, it was full of air. That's why he looks like a cross-eyed monkey in the picture. It was very funny and everyone was laughing. I wished I had video taped it.

I think he had the best birthday ever! I could not be happier either looking at his candle lit face, completely focused on the cake and flames with such innocence. It's great being five! He received many gifts from his friends, Nana and Pinky and us. We let him open only a few presents per day so that it is not too exciting for him. Nana and Pinky sent him a magnetic puzzle set that he can make lots of different shapes with. He will have hours of fun with that. We got him a blue bike and he loves it. So far, all the presents he opened are big hits.

Next up is my birthday, but who's looking forward to getting another year older? My Mom's in denial that her daughter is turning 40 next year and Mike's giving me a smirk about it. Sean says I am 27 so, that is ok with me!

I will write about Aaron's visit in the next post!