John is 6!

John turned six years old on February 6th. After I found out that I was pregnant with John we quickly realized that the baby's due date was right around the time of the Super Bowl. And I know that even though the thought was rarely spoken out loud, I am pretty sure that Scott often prayed that I wouldn't go into labor around that day so the wouldn't have to spend Super Bowl Sunday in the hospital. Scott was savvy and outwardly declared that the birth date would be what it would be and if it were Super Bowl Sunday "he wouldn't care", but I knew better. I knew that Scott was breathing a huge sigh of relief when that Sunday came and I was still enormously pregnant and we got to watch the game in the comfort of our own home that evening.

Well, early Monday morning (just hours after the conclusion of the Sunday Super Bowl), my water broke and John was born around 2:30 Monday afternoon. What timing that kid had! Given the proximity of John's birth to the Super Bowl game I will always associate John's birthday with the Super Bowl.

This year the most convenient weekend to host John's party was the weekend of the Super Bowl and it was specifically held the day of the game, which is just so fitting. We held John's party early that Sunday afternoon at a local indoor rock climbing gym. Even though John personally hadn't had much experience with rock climbing, we thought this would be a good venue for a large group of five and six year old active boys. John was very excited about it.

The indoor rock climbing gym was great and would have been super fun for any adult who enjoys the challenge of a good rock climbing experience. The gym has a smart layout in that they have a nice set-up for kids as well as for the adults. The kids could either choose to climb with a harness (as in the photo above), or they could free-climb on the wall to get to a slide at the top that they can use to crash down on the mats below. The photo below shows two of John's friends after they have climbed up the free-climb wall to get to the slide.
Below is a shot of John's friends going up the free-climb wall to the slide.
Below John is coming off the mats on the left.

John below on the free-climb wall going up to the slide...

...and coming down the slide.

Scott and I worked to belay the kids who were wearing harnesses up and down the rock-climbing wall, which we both thought was fun because we got to see most of the boys one-on-one.

After an hour and half of rock-climbing, we went to the party room for cake and refreshments.

John had selected a yummy chocolate-chip cookie cake, with another smaller football and Super Bowl-themed grocery store cake thrown into the mix for maximum sugar consumption.

After the party, we spent some time at home where John enjoyed opening a few gifts from friends and family.

We only let John open three gifts on that afternoon so that he would not experience gift-overload, but one of the gifts John chose to open was the one that Scott picked out on behalf of our family. It was a DSi, the hand-held gaming device that John had been wanting for over two years.

Can you tell he was excited about the DSi? John was on CLOUD NINE all day that Sunday. Having his birthday party and the Super Bowl festivities on the same day made everything feel all the more celebratory for John and he relished the extra attention.

Happy Birthday, young John. We love you!