Sam's Bday

Yesterday, NOVA. Today, Sam's bday party at Jump!

Our first stop, though, was to get a present. 

I had a plan, but there wasn't time to enact it during the week! Thankfully, the End Games was right on the way.

We made it a little early and Shane opted to listen a little more to our audiobook before going in. Then, it was game time!

I took a picture of Shane about to go off a diving board into the foam pit (that was new!).

He played and I made the ill-informed decision to go by Lowe's. They didn't have the style of anything Carrie wanted, so all I did was kill some time and avoid bringing Shane to Lowe's after Jump.

The kids were all playing dodgeball when I got back.

Shane's got some practice in after school.

He doesn't have the throwing arm, but he likes to dodge and Jump adds the trampolines in for extra fun!

Sam and Iggy were on the other team.

Shane really enjoyed seeing all the old Jackson Via kids at the party. That's Zakir from afterschool in the California shirt. I don't know why the kids started to talk about the atomic bomb, but Shane tried to turn it into a conversation about atomic farts (his humor is rather one note).

The kids all jabbered happily until cake time.

Happy birthday, Sam!

It would have been great if the candles thawed the Ben and Jerry's ice cream cake quicker. Sam's dad, Paul, followed the directions and the directions were wrong! He had to saw at the not-so-defrosted cake.

Shane tried the ice cream cake and the gluten free chocolate cake (I followed suit later!).

The blonde kid on Shane's right is Levi. He was in Shane's class at Jackson Via and "the best behaved kid in the school" according to Shane! (I still remember Shane saying that!).

I tried to talk to the adults some while the kids joked away. I need to decide what to do about spring sports for Shane. I want to sign him up for something in Scottsville for a short drive, but if there isn't something here I may try to get him on a soccer team with Jackson Via kids instead.

The kids were ready for presents after cake. I had to tell Shane not to reach in to discover or show Sam anything!

Somehow a new game evolved.

The floor is lava! Truly, a classic. Shane was calling out and all of the kids got into it.

I think it was Annika who was the first rules lawyer. "My feet aren't touching the floor. My shoes are so I'm safe!" she said.

"The floor and shoes are now lava!" was Shane's rebuttal!

I got a great picture of Sam reacting to opening our gift!

"Now we both have Pokemon!" Shane said.

Humorous side-note: I know one of the other parents likes board games. They got Sam Forbidden Sky! Shane and I played it at the beach.

The kids didn't get to go on the ninja warrior course, but they spent the end of the party hanging out in the arcade (TMNT may have got turned off a couple of times on accident).

It was a great weekend. Lots of fun and socializing! I want to keep up these relationships as much as I can.

This week: Saturday is for Social

With my car back, it was time for Shane and I's usual Saturday routine. He started off the day with Taekwando.

I sat in the car for most of practice. It was crowded!

There was a brief window in between activities where we popped home for a change and some impromptu basketball.

Carrie posted our VW Bug for sale online. A mechanic who was aware of it's current condition came by and bought it while his kids played with Shane and Raheem. They didn't stay long, but it was a fun side event.

Unfortunately for Raheem, we didn't stay long either. Shane got changed, had a snack, and we were off to basketball.

Shane hammed it up and really enjoyed a dominating win.

Some of my texts to Carrie:
"They're winning 14-2 so Shane is pumped. He cheers every score. It's his turn to go in again and I could hear across the court, "Boo yah, Baby!"

"20-8 at halftime. He's tried a few steals. Was celebrating too much and his man almost ran down unopposed to score but he heard me yell."

The final score was 36-14. The coach's son, Ethan(?), did most of the work. Shane tried a few steals, took a shot from under the backboard, and actually got a rebound. He contributed! How's that for low standards?

Shane tried to make friends with the scoreboard guy when he was on the bench. I bet he was asking to push buttons, too, but I couldn't hear from across the court!

The kids had fun and I was happy with Shane's effort.

We got home to eat and get ready for Sam's birthday party at 3! Rah had a nephew coming to visit at 3, so I felt less bad as we drove off again (He at least had something going on...). 

I recognized a couple of the kids at Sam's party. I could have left him, but I ended up staying and talking with the adults. The other guy who stayed was a computer science professor at UVA. I found the academia discussions and politics interesting. It's a very different world from what I deal with.

There was an awkward moment where a kid showed up who wasn't invited to the party. He'd been visiting his grandparents and wanted to join. Shane immediately started to chat him up. The other kids wanted to play soccer and Shane was happy to find someone who wanted to grab a shovel and dig holes in the yard. Sam has history with the kid and "hasn't taken to him." The kid was allowed to join the party until the kid drama/angst levels were too high and he was sent home.

To my surprise, Shane did not cause the most noise of the kids. In fact, he disappeared at one point. Sam had a new Dogman comic book and Shane sat in his room to read it while the other kids had a light saber duel in the basement. I was amused.

There was cake and a Pokemon themed "Pin-the-Pokeball" activity. Several of the kids had unerring accuracy for being blindfolded and spun. The blindfold may not have worked as intended, but they had fun.

Everyone went outside again after. Shane wanted more cake and to go outside. I told him not to take their silverware into the yard, so he scarfed the cake down on the porch before vaulting down the stairs.

I would have happily stayed at the party longer, but after two hours of mayhem I figured Sam's parents would be happy for some quiet. Shane and I left as soon as other parents started arriving to ease the energy level.

Three planned activities and a little spontaneous play in between. We had a good day!