Luke is 9!

Luke had a really fun birthday!  Since it fell on a Saturday, we did some celebrating on Friday and Saturday.  On Friday, I brought birthday treats to the classroom (Swig social sugar cookies and juice boxes) and hung out while he told his class about his birthday poster and called on friends who wanted to ask him questions, such as What's your favorite animal?  What's our favorite mammal?  What's your favorite place to visit?  What's your favorite color?  And, do you have any pets?  It was really cute.

Right after school, which is a half day on Fridays, Luke had a little party at Provo Beach Resort.  I actually double-booked myself so Cat and Luke's friend's mom helped out by getting the party started.  The boys had pizza for lunch, then when I arrived I got them passes for a couple of activities and arcade tokens.  We played laser tag, then waited for two bowling lanes to open up, but it didn't happen, so we played a second game of laser tag.  Ben stopped by the party for a while and played the second game with us, and afterward we had some time at the arcade.  I brought the boys back to our house for cupcakes and ice cream, and presents.  Then the parents picked them up from our house.  (P.S. When I look at these pictures, in which at least one boy looks like he wants to hurt at least one other boy, I remind myself that this is just the type of game these guys play together.  Whenever I ask Luke about his recess games, he almost always describes some kind of attack game, such as World War I, World War II, Zombie Attack, etc.  Somehow, it's just how these kids have bonded and continue to play.)

The next day, we spread our celebrations out a bit.  He opened presents in the morning before Cat went to work; Ben and I took the younger three to see Bad Guys in theaters; then Luke opened presents in the evening once Cat was home.  He loved his presents (the fake gas mask, new bike, and Army outfit were big hits!), he loved the movie, and he loved the little ice cream cake he chose.

It was fun to celebrate the last year of single-digit birthdays for Luke. He's such a smart and funny and playful kid!