Party & a picnic

B's birthday is Christmas Eve, so we've been having half-birthday parties for him. It doesn't seem fair that he should have to get all his new toys in two days. M likes to tell people that we give him batteries on his birthday, and the toys they go in on Christmas. Poor kid. Anyway, the half-birthday party is great fun. We do it in June, so he can do all the fun outside stuff that you can't do in late December. We put out the wading pool & a slip-n-slide and invite over all the friends. I imagine someday we'll have to step up a little more and have it at a "real" pool or something, but for this age, the backyard party rocks. This year's party was last weekend. I have just two pictures, both of some of the many fun gifts he got:

The Super-B cape wasn't actually a birthday present. It was a gift from an online friend that just happened to arrive the day before the party. The Hulk mask & fists are from my parents. Remember how we found him a Hulk costume at a yard sale a few weeks ago? He loves that ratty thing, and now he's Hulk from head to toe. The mask has green lights inside the eyes that glow when you push a button, and when you hit the left fist into anything, it roars and mutters, "You're making me angry. You won't like me when I'm angry!" It's pretty hilarious. I guess my parents' dog didn't think it was so funny -- she was very suspicious & probably glad when they left the house.

This past Friday was M's company picnic. I picked the kids up from preschool right after lunch, thinking Z would nap in the car. It's almost an hour drive, so it seemed like a reasonable thing to expect. Ha! She screamed for twenty minutes, then slept for fifteen. She & I didn't stay that long -- I tossed that grouch back in the car & took her home for a real nap, while B & his dad stayed to play. They had putt-putt, go-karts, a batting cage, and an arcade. B was in heaven. It was his first time driving a go-kart, and I think you can see the terror in his eyes in the close-up. He did great, and even managed to go fast enough on his second lap that the attendant had to pick up his pace in order to walk behind him the whole way. Heh heh. He's pretty cautious when it comes to trying new things. I bet the next time he drives a go-kart he'll be a little Speed Racer.