Sign.
Me.
Up.
Not to mention -- it's Chuck E Cheese! What's not fun about Chuck E Cheese?! (I'm probably the only parent in the world who thinks that about this place, but seriously, I love it! It's just FUN!)
Funny story: Dan decided to make these Pillsbury Cake Pops in lieu of a birthday cake. Because one box only yields 12 pops, he made two boxes to ensure we'd have enough for the kids and adults. When all was said & done, he only got 20 pops out of the two boxes, and they were pretty small -- only about an inch & a half around. And it took until after 10:00 last night to make them because there's nothing quick & easy about those things. So... convinced that 20 little cake pops couldn't possibly be enough, he got up at 7:00 this morning to bake a cake. And decorate it.
Turns out, the cake pops were plenty. And freakin' awesomely good! We even came home with two leftovers (and as much as I wanted them for myself, I gave one to each boy after dinner). No one touched the chocolate cake (which will change in about 10 minutes here, when I'm done with this blog entry). Poor Dan.
The party itself was great! They played games, ate pizza, played games, ate cake pops, played games, opened presents, played games, etc... I think Dan had as much fun as -- if not more than -- the boys! He was constantly off stuffing tokens into a ticket-spitting machine. Because, you know, those Chuck E Cheese prizes are super valuable, right?
Evan refused to go in the Ticket Blaster. Refused. He watched Sean do it but he was not about to go in there, not even with me or Dan. So Sean went twice. He loved it! The first time, he didn't really catch any tickets as they flew around him. He tried, he really did. But at the end, the party hostess gave him a stash of tickets from the Blaster floor anyway. The second time, he had the hang of it and he did catch some tickets, including some bonus tickets! He was so adorably proud of himself for that! And the party hostess still gave him a stash of tickets when it was over.
We didn't get home from the party until around 2:30ish, and by then, I decided today was as good a day as any to experiment with Evan's nap. As in, we didn't give him one (!). He did surprisingly well, considering what a sleep-a-holic he is. I think that was partly because he slept in this morning until almost 8:00. And partly because he's just cool that way. But he was ready for bed by 7pm this evening and made zero protest when I put him to bed at that time. Haven't heard a peep since.
Here's the Shutterfly album:
And so... Tomorrow starts a new week. I'm crossing my fingers (as well as all other appendages) for no visits to the Principal's office and no calls from the school.
