Weekend update

We did our best to keep the kids busy last weekend! M took B rock-climbing on Saturday morning while Z and I hit Target in search of a birthday gift. In the afternoon, we all went to Mason's 7th birthday party. Mason is the son of one of M's oldest friends. In fact, M's friend & his wife were two of the four people present when we got married (not counting us). OK, five people present, if you count that fact that Martha was pregnant with Mason! It was a bowling party, and the kids had loads of fun. We adults were a little overwhelmed with all the noise (loud music) and flashing lights (black-light-disco-ball bowling, followed by a visit to the arcade). Too...much...stimulation! Throw in cake, and all the kids were totally hyper and the adults totally drained by the end of it. We wound up Saturday with a visit to the home of the family that threw the bowling party, with still more kids to play with, and NCAA basketball and a glass of wine (maybe 2) for me.

We hung around the house on Sunday morning -- it was a beautiful day. Z and I took a long walk around the neighborhood while B and M goofed off in the yard. That afternoon, I took B to Mr. Biggs. It was a scouting trip for a potential half-birthday party location. They have EVERYTHING there -- bounce house, go-karts, putt-putt, bowling, arcade, laser tag, and a "3-story foam factory." This is a mesh-enclosed area with thousands of foam balls, about the size of tennis balls. There are all sorts of contraptions that shoot the balls. I took out all my pent-up aggression up on the second level, where there are guns that fire balls down to the first level. I tried to aim at other grown-ups most of the time, but I have to admit that if there were no grown-ups in range, I may have pegged a kid or two. I'm pretty sure I had an evil grin on my face the whole time we were in there. It also turns out that B is quite good at ski ball. He's got about a bazillion tickets to cash in next time we go.

B bowling:

The birthday boy: