Happy, Happy Birthday Brandon, Dear

Brandon turned five yesterday! Yippee! All of his friends are older than him, so he was really itching to have this birthday. With all the craziness between having Tony and Cindy in town and getting ready to leave on the road trip, I decided it was too much to have a big party. So, we decided to just have a little family party. We told him he could pick a place to eat--anywhere he wanted. He chose Taco Bell. I was shocked, but if that's what the birthday boy wants....

Well, yesterday before starting the festivities, we were driving near the mall and he saw a fun-looking building that said NASCAR on it. He said, "Mom, what's that?" I told him it was the NASCAR cafe, a place to eat that has a bunch of race car stuff inside. He instantly changed his mind about where he wanted to eat. I thought it sounded really fun and had never been there, so that's what we decided to do.

Andrew came home from work a little early and we got all packed up and drove out to the NASCAR cafe. (As a side note, I had tried to get online before we went to check out the menu and couldn't find anything about it on the internet. I thought we must have a lame out-of-date cafe that didn't have a website.) Well, we pulled up and the parking lot looked ominously empty... It turns out that place is closed down!!! AAAGGHHH! How do you explain that to a five year old? I felt terrible. He started getting teary-eyed with disapointment in the backseat. Neither Andrew or I could think of an equivalent here in Greensboro, so we gave him a couple of options: Mexican food, McDonalds, Chick-fil-A or Chuck E Cheese. After changing his mind several times in the car, he decided to go for pizza at Chuck E's. (We were planning on going there after dinner anyway, but we usually eat somewhere else.)

We had brought all of his presents along and just had a little family party there. It was so fun. They have recently added some cool games that he loves. One is the Nicktoons racing game. He's really good at it. I really think he's training himself to be a NASCAR driver when he grows up. Another is one of those rides that makes you feel like you're on a roller coaster. The seats move and everything. That is a fun one for me and Andrew, too. Whitney loves the Bob the Builder ride. Andrew loves pop-a-shot basketball. And my favorite is skeeball. I have a knack for winning the jackpot almost every time we go. I started off in a funk, but managed to win it before we left. Woo hoo!

Brandon at FIVE:
*Loves video games
*Loves to read
*Likes to play on the internet
*Still loves sports (since the day he was born, I think)
*Has imaginary friends. He calls them his
"fake friends" and has lengthy conversations with them.
*Loves to eat fruit. Will ask me to buy peaches
at the store like they're candy bars. "PLEASE, Mom!"
*Is very generous. He'll share everything with us
and with Whitney. He got a coupon for a free
ice cream cone for his birthday. (Out of Baskin Robbin's
31 flavors, he picked Cherries Jubilee. Huh.) The first
thing he said was, "I'll give you some bites, Whitney."
How sweet is that?
*Likes to use "big" words like immediately and archaeologist
*Gives me the cutest smile when I take his picture
*Is starting to look like such a big boy--sometimes
it's weird to think he's my son!
*Loves to laugh

Our big five year old Brandon.
Make a wish!

One of the great things about Brandon is that he is very easily excitable. It is the BEST to watch him opening presents. He reacts like each one is EXACTLY what he wanted. It is so cute and makes us feel good.

Mom, do you have to take my picture, now???

It may not be the NASCAR cafe, but at least
he got to drive a "race car."