Zach Turned 8

Yesterday was August 8th, which means I'm only 2 months late in posting about Zach's birthday party on June 8th.  Better late than never, right?

Zach started his birthday with balloons in his room and then got to open his present from Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Dick.  He was (and continues to be) pretty excited about his new badminton set.  For some reason I can't get this picture centered.  

Zach also had his party on his actual birthday.  He chose to invite 4 friends- 2 boys and 2 girls.  I kinda wonder what year will be the year he decides he doesn't want to invite girls anymore.  I don't care one way or the other, really, I just think it's interesting that when given the opportunity to invite a small number of friends, he consistently picks a mix of boys and girls.  Anyway, Zach picked 4 friends and we took them all to Incredible Pizza with us for some games.  Incredible Pizza is basically Chuck E. Cheese for an older crowd.  I had purchased a Groupon in May that we were able to use to get each child a game card, and we told them all that when the money on the card was spent, they were done.  I tried to explain that they'd have to consider how much each game cost, because some were more expensive than others, and that would affect how many games they played and tickets they earned.  Right away, all the kids except one opted to try out the new ropes course, which cost $7 or $8, and the kids only had $15 each to spend.  The one kid who didn't do it said he didn't because of its high cost, but I also think he was a little nervous about it.  Anyway, here's Zach's fried Cael on the course.

And Zach on the course.  Zach went much more slowly than the other 3 kids.  He was pretty clearly nervous.  It was kind of endearing.

Zach and one of the girls, who was waiting patiently for Zach to get going so she could continue.

Once the kids were about done spending their money, we let them pick out their prizes with the tickets they had earned.  Those were their party favors, which I felt totally fine with.  We had heard nothing but bad things about the pizza at Incredible Pizza, so we actually ordered pizza and had it delivered to our house.  It arrived right after we got home, and the kids ate and had cake.  We asked that kids not bring presents but instead bring school or toiletry supplies for the victims of the huge Oklahoma tornado.  The kids were all very generous with their donations.

Here is the birthday boy with his friends, Morgan, Cael, Zach, Allie, and ?? It's been 2 months- I can't remember one of the girl's names or which girl is which.  Oops.

Zach wanted a rainbow cake with chocolate frosting and candy on top.  The hardest part about this was Zach standing in the candy aisle trying to decide which candy we should use.  

The day after Zach's birthday, he and Mike got to play in a father-son golf tournament at the club.  Mike didn't do great research before the tournament, though, so he didn't realize that it was 18 full holes and that the youngest age-group was, like 11-12 year-olds.  Mike and Zach played with Mike's buddy Erik and his son Quinn, who just turned 8 in July.  Everybody had fun, and I think the highlight for everyone except Erik was when Quinn got an M&M stuck up his nose.  I wish I could have been there for that, because it sounds pretty hilarious.

After the golf tournament, all of Zach's in-town grandparents and Aunt Katherine came over (Uncle Sam was out of town for basic training) for dessert (this time a giant chocolate chip cookie) and presents.  Because of the golf tournament's timing, we had the boys showered and in pajamas before everyone came over.

Another birthday, another photo of Zach squinting at his candles because they are too bright for his eyes.  What's he going to do when he's, like 20??  We should have special birthday sunglasses for him, maybe.

I can't believe he's 8 already!  It seems like he's making the move from little kid to big kid.  Too fast, way too fast.