It Didn’t All Happen At The Zoo

Zoomboy turns eight on Tuesday, but this weekend was his “party day.”  Last year we did the Chuck E. Cheese thing–but I didn’t want to do that this year.  For one thing, it’s expensive, and for another?  Zoomboy really only has a few good friends.  He relates to one or two kids really well, but is lost in a group.  I’m like this, and so is his father, and I fervently believe that this is OKAY.  One of Zoomboy’s best birthdays ever simply had his family.  He got one really awesome toy and spent two hours playing with it under the kitchen table.  When I said we could have a birthday day with is best friend and his little sister, he was ecstatic.  We went to the zoo and saw a movie and then came home for pizza, more playing, and cake and ice cream–and he was pretty damned excited about that–can you tell?

Anyway, so this was the zoo–and I’m sorry about the fingerprint on the camera when I took these–it seems that playing Angry Birds on the phone requires greasy fingers in all sorts of places you would not imagine they need to be!

 Okay, so it looks like they were making a big fat mess in our living room.  But they weren’t–well, they were, but they weren’t JUST making a big fat mess.  See, that big fat mess in our living room (which is still there by the way) USED to be a big, fat, mess in the KID’S room–and that’s rough.  Lots of toys, no place to play–and it wasn’t the kids’ fault really.  Their room is REALLY REALLY small.  In fact, Squish’s bed (which she never slept in because it was covered in stuffed animals) was really her converted crib.  So there was this room, and all of these books and all of these toys, and no place really for two little kids who can actually play quietly and amuse themselves if they’re just given a little space. So, while I was taking the kids out to play, Mate and the big kids were providing a little space.

And speaking of Squish?  After we dropped Zoomboy’s friend off (he spent the night–another first, because for the first time we had room!) we went and got new shoes for the kids.  Zoomboy got your basic model tennis shoe–the strap is different and so is the velcro, but boy’s tennis shoes haven’t really changed in function in the last sixty years.

Squish’s shoes on the other hand… She saw these across the store.  The toes light up.  She put them on and said, “Do I look good?”

I’m just lucky she still asks.  This morning I started singing “These Boots Are Made for Walking” by RoseAnne Cash, and she strutted around the kitchen.  Don’t mess with a girl in sparkly toed boots–it’s a truism!

So anyway– that was my weekend, and I’m exhausted.  But pleased.  My children have a place to play–and my family worked toward a worthy goal, and Zoomboy is eight.  I’m so proud.