It's birthday time again! And Benny just turned eleven! This year Benny decided he wanted to have a party with his friends at the local bowling alley. So--that's what we did. And everyone had a great time.
Five friends came, plus Sam, of course, so we had seven boys. Yep, it was loud, rowdy, crazy--just as a birthday party should be. The boys played games first. They all played this ticket jackpot game where you hit a button and a ball falls into a random hole, dictating how many tickets you win. Naturally it's designed to mostly put you in the low-earning ticket spots...but can you believe one boy hit the jackpot over and over and over? He walked away with 650 tickets!!
Then the kids moved onto lazer tag--a huge hit. They loved it. They made elaborate plans, ran into the lazer tag room, and immediately everyone "died." Then they'd come out, make more elaborate plans, and repeat the process. When they started slowing down and walking instead of running, we knew they were wearing out.
The kids traded in their tickets for prizes. You know what? The boy who won 650 tickets bought something for everyone there as gifts. Isn't that nice?? Yep, everyone went home with a "gag" pack of gum--you pull a stick out and you get an electric shock. They were all thrilled.
Cake!
Back home for presents. Legos, Nerf guns, a football, a remote control car, and good old cash. Benny was a happy birthday boy.
And Poe was a happy kitty. She crawled in and out of discarded bags, burrowed under wrapping paper, and shredded it with her teeth. Poe likes birthdays!
Happy Birthday, Benny!
And on a side note, when we were driving home from the party, Benny and I both saw an asteroid zip past up in the sky! It was amazing, and if we had not both looked up at that exact second, we would have missed it entirely. I later learned it was the size of two football fields and closer to us than the moon. I told Benny it was a sign of good luck that it happened on his birthday. Here's to a great year!
