Monday, August 13, 2012

Super Six

I'm ridiculously overdue with this, but I can't let it go undocumented, so here's the story of Super Wy's Super Sixth Birthday. But nope, not a superhero theme, though now I'm thinking that would work for seven. Filing that away. Anyway…

We spent his actual birthday hanging out at home and invited his friend over to have an afternoon water fight. We enjoy this friend's whole family (which also consists of two teenage siblings their fun parents) so we told them that they were welcome to join us if they wanted. Imagine our delight when they all arrived in swimsuits, with a cooler, and loaded for bear. We're talking super-Super Soakers, giant squirty things, and a bucket. They. were. READY.

So the nine of us proceeded to sprint all over the yard, spraying each other, stalking each other, ganging up on each other and just generally drenching each other. It was so, so fun and the kind of thing that would've failed miserably if we'd planned it. At some point in there, another little guy from across the street joined us (he'd said he wasn't feeling very well, but watching his buddies having a great time seemed to make him feel better fast!) and then we decided that we might as well all have dinner together (the other set of parents included, too). So we rounded up burgers and dogs for the crowd and in true potluck fashion everyone brought something that turned it into an all-out feast. We topped it off with cupcakes in the cul-de-sac and the dads racing on the little boys' bikes.


serving dessert out of the wagon - looking lovely after
a day of water fights!
girls, mid-cupcake

boys, mid-cupcake


The next weekend we had Wyatt's planned party, the first we've ever had for him. I love to plan a party and had so much fun creating a backyard carnival for a dozen five- and six-year olds. The kids decorated their own loot bags upon arrival and then we moved in small groups from game to game. Everyone ate a Wyatt-chosen meal of corn dogs and potato chips followed by chocolate cake and ice cream. Since we dreamed of a drop-off party, Jeff and I couldn't have pulled this off without additional adults - it was awesome of my parents to agree to be here to help. Despite the fact that it was literally the hottest day of the year (humid, too! gooooooo South!) and we had to cool kids with icy washcloths and spray bottles, it was an absolute blast. It turned out the kids had as much fun getting cooled off as they did playing carnival games! Everyone earned tickets at each game station and then redeemed them for an assortment of prizes. Wyatt had a great time, I think all of his friends did, too.


decorating bags, not yet realizing how hot it was
the backyard games, ready to go
prizes, ready to be claimed
miracle! a picture of Wyatt - one of the very few I managed to get

our pitiful attempt at a family picture - we were all too hot to (a) get Natalie from the other table and (b) look remotely in the same direction 


Wyatt at six is:
  • still obsessed with airplanes; looking through back-issues of the Air Force magazine is one of his favorite things to do and he has an uncanny retention of any little facts tossed out about aircraft.
  • creative, getting more interested in Legos but heavily into Trio blocks since they allow him to express 3-D aircraft engineering ideas a little faster.
  • still extremely social; any day that involves friends is a great day to him!
  • a pretty decent big brother most of the time
  • getting more into art and coloring, though it's definitely not his go-to pastime.
  • a crazy man on his bike! He darts all over our neighborhood at high speed and has experienced one pretty good wipeout but is undaunted.
  • swimming like a fish (though in all honesty, this skill really clicked for him after his birthday)
  • pretty good at doing simple math in his head
  • learning to count his money and loving to spend his money (usually to buy airplanes).
  • starting to be "in on the joke"when Natalie does something funny, often looking at us with the face that says, "isn't she silly?"
  • starting to make his own breakfast and lunch (this is new…we'll see how long it lasts!)
  • SO very excited to start Kindergarten. There are days that I think we should have sent him last year, but more often I know we did the right thing by giving him another year to "ripen." Besides, I'll miss him.
  • a lovey, cuddly boy who is excited to greet each day.
  • still my favorite little boy in the whole world.




3 comments:

Mom said...

I love that boy!

Leslie said...

Awww, happy birthday Wyatt! What a great party! I can imagine the excitement playing all those great games!!

The Blake Family said...

Can't believe these kids are turning six!! Happy Birthday a couple months ago, Wyatt! And...hello, Steph! I'm calling you in a month or so, and possibly flying you out here to plan another 6-year-old party. What a wonderfully, organized time it looks like you had!! Go Mom!!