Jack's 9th birthday

Happy Birthday, Jack!

Jack had a pretty awesome 9th birthday! We celebrated “just the 5 of us” up in Canada, but managed to pack the weekend with special events and fun surprises. He woke up to a fully decorated house and was king for the weekend!

At the birthday boy’s request, we went rollerskating. Jack had a fabulous time, and when I wasn’t picking up Maria or trying to avoid Danny, I had a lot of fun!

Maria was a trooper and persevered for Jack’s sake for the majority of the morning, despite falling every 3 minutes and crying nearly non-stop — what a good sister! Dad was on Danny duty, who gave up skating after 5 seconds and decided his time would be better spent crying for Mom and grunting at everyone.

Also at Jack’s request was his favorite dinner- Domino’s Pizza. Yum! Then cake!

Presents included an astounding amount of money from grandparents, aunts and uncles, a plasma light, and the lego monastery he was really, really hoping to get! Jack got right to work and enjoyed every minute of building, and was kind enough to let Maria and Danny help a little bit.

We thought the children would love the Toronto Christmas parade. We brought hot chocolate and had visions of rosy-cheeked children seeing Santa. The reality was that everyone was cold, they were sitting on ice, we were so far along the parade route that we waited 2 hours before seeing anything, everyone was hungry, everyone had to go to the bathroom, everyone needed more hand warmers, the hot chocolate spilled… ugh. Once the birthday boy decided he would rather lay on the freezing ice than watch the parade, we decided to leave. We found a washroom and the most expensive pasta ever (which was promptly dropped on the floor and had to be repurchased). But, despite all this, it was still a fun day! The best part of the parade was seeing my flag held a bit higher. Not going to lie- it brought tears to my eyes.

Dave took Jack for a special surprise- virtual reality! He said it was so much fun!

I can’t believe my baby is 9. Where does the time go?

Jack, you had a wonderful birthday, and I know you felt super special and had a lot of fun. We love you so much. You are kind, silly, smart, and fun. You make our family better and I’m so lucky to be your mom. Dad and I will love you forever, always, no matter what. Happy birthday, sweet boy!