One of Our Favorite Traditions

It's birthday season at our home. Eliza turned 1 last month, Mark turned 10 last week, and Luke celebrated his 3rd birthday this week. We have one more to go this month...then one in November, two in January, and one in March before we take a six month break.

But I think Karen and I would both agree that the 3rd birthday is one of our favorite traditions. It's the first time they get some real one-on-one time with Mom and Dad. It's all about them. Since Mark turned 3, we've taken each of them to Chuck E. Cheese's for that particular birthday. No siblings allowed! And I think it's just as fun for the birthday kid as it is for Mom and Dad.

And if you ever want the place to yourself, check out your local Chuck E. Cheese's at 11:30AM on a Monday morning. Boy was it GREAT!!! There were only a handful of people there...so Luke got to spend as much time as he wanted on any game.

He enjoyed watching the show...

and riding the bulldozer from Bob the Builder...

and beating us both at air hockey...

and climbing through the tubes high above the ground.

There's something very satisfying for us as parents knowing that we successfully wore our kids to the point of exhaustion! We had lots of fun and the trip home was very relaxing.

But the fun wasn't over! We opened presents at home. And birthday presents aren't just for the birthday boy when there are other little boys close by. All of his siblings were curious and "helpful" when opening the gifts.

Here's a shot of the whole family. There are six kids in our family...but they sure don't take up a lot of space. I wonder what we'll be thinking when they're all teenagers!!!

We got the puzzle for Grandpa Christensen...I mean Luke. If you want to be best friends with Luke, just offer to do a puzzle with him.

And here's the most unique gift. I'm not sure how Karen found it. But we're still trying to figure out what to do with it. Maybe James will use it for his Halloween costume. So far it's been used as a hat, a rocking chair, a turtle shell, and just something to spin on the floor. If you've ever seen anything like this, let us know how you've seen it used!

Happy 3rd birthday, Luke!!! Thanks for letting us play with you at Chuck E. Cheese's.