David's Birthdays
2002
His party was at My Three Sons in Norwalk, CT. It was pouring cats and dogs outside. I-95 was slow, but moving. We got there early and left late. The 15 kids (14 boys and 1 girl) had time in the maze, then double Laser Tag, then pizza and cake, and finally a chance to try their hands at generating lots of tickets on the token operated machines.
David getting permission to start early with the other kids who arrived even earlier than we did. We were assigned room 1. The rooms are separated by a row of thick plants. This sure beats the old walls that were there last year. The maze was half the size this year. The lower level disappeared and had kiddie cars instead. Still, the kids had fun in the upper level. The preparation for a double round of Laser Tag. The kids were outfitted with vests and laser devices. The lasers stop working if anyone's red areas on the front or back is tagged with a laser beam. Action. The goal is to zap the other team's home light area the most. This is played in the dark with strobe lights providing some illumination. Of course, there is a loud music source, too. Preparing for the feast. Liquid was essential after all of the running around that the kids did before sitting down. Eating first is a perk of the birthday boy. Eating last was Anthony's job (6 slices of pizza, no less). Anthony is on David's immediate left. Most kids had 2-3 slices of pizza. The cake with lit candles just before David blew them all out on the first try. It sure is easier to blow all of the candles out at his age than at mine. David offering an eye view of how to get ready for eating the cake. Another satisfying birthday party. After this, it was time to see how many tickets could be generated from the tokens. David collected 500 tickets, which is pretty good for a single visit to My Three Sons. After the party we retired to our house. David opened presents and even Purrpuss (our 18 year old kittie) came to see what David was given.
David began by opeing what were obviously Yu-Ki-Oh cards. He collected quite a few. Wow... even our 18 year old cat Purrpuss came to see what David received. This was a little more posed. Purry is somewhat very camera shy. A final snugglefest before Purry visited my lap and then retired back to her heating pad to warm up. Some of David's presents from the party. He was even slightly hungry again (another couple of slices of pizza disappeared). David's real birthday was celebrated at home with his parents. He received even more presents, this time from his relatives.
Getting ready to open the presents. He was busy studying the packages and reading some of the cards. A Transformer and a dragon. A Sante Fe train from Lego. This will be zipping around the Christmas tree in a few days. Once again, the cats arrived to watch. This time Dad provided the lap for Purrpuss to watch the presents being opened. Note that the cats come on their own volition without being called. The birthday cake before the candles are lit. David leaned over after Dad said something colorful about heads being chopped off in the previous picture attempt (not shown here due to technical difficulties). The lit birthday cake. Even with a digital camera, Dad still cuts heads off repeatedly. Sheesh, but it sure beats film. David always reads the directions. Always. Even if they are in Japanese or Chinese, as long as there are diagrams. David even points out misprints in the grammar. David had a fine birthday, celebrated over the course of a week.
