Our youngest child is 8 years old today, WOW. First the oldest turned 10 and now 1 month to the day, the little guy (can’t say that anymore as it seems he grows every night) is now 8. We have a big day planned to follow up the pre birthday celebration from yesterday. Due to the holiday, the kids were off from school yesterday so we had a birthday lunch at his favorite local place and then took him up to Bicycle Village to get him a new bike. He’s of course very happy as his was actually too small for him last year and he rode his brothers whenever he could. He picked out a blue one with gears which is a step up for him as his previous “ride” had no gears. Turns out it’s actually a great time to buy a bike. Think about it, it’s the middle of winter and new models are arriving any day. So even though it was a tough expense to swallow, we’re really happy we were able to swing it.
Today the kids have school and he will be the toast of the town in his class all day and then it’s off to Big Time, the trampoline place where his brother had his party. There will be 12 or 14 kids, I can’t remember. It mushroomed into this large of a party as some kids overheard him inviting s friend at lunch and bam, the news spread fast. So there you are, 12 or 14 kids will be jumping up and down from 3:30 until 5:30pm. Then we’ll head off downtown to join Grandma, Uncle T and Aunt B at the Buckhorn for dinner. Thanks very very much to Grandma for taking us all out to dinner. The Buckhorn might be the oldest restaurant in Denver dating back to the late 1800’s. There are hundreds of animal heads all over the walls from bear to elk to deer to antelope as it is a true historical western landmark. There was some famous shooting there in the 1800’s which I can’t remember but it still has significance today. For me, I remember going there with my dad many times as he used to love it. This will be the first time any of us have been back since my dad has been gone so it will be bittersweet. Funny how life goes on and on. I hope the kids enjoy this place as much as we do, I’m sure they will. So it’s now 4;15am and soon the big day will start. I’ve been up since 3:30 or so as I’m still on Italian time a bit.
We went up to Grandma’s yesterday and she looks good but is still in mourning for her beloved Green Bay Packers. She’s still trying to make sense of it all as she said, the team just didn’t play like they normally do. We’re all sad for her but are now rooting for the San Francisco 49ers. This of course is the misses team and Grandpa Bob’s and Grandma Annette and Grandpa Jim and everyone else in the bay area. It’s also the only team that I have any attachment to as well, so go 49ers!
I forgot to let you all know how clean the house was when I arrived home as frankly, I was too tired to even see it. The misses really worked hard to get things sparkling. Of course it doesn’t take long for 2 boys and 2 dogs to make a mess.
We had a couple inches of snow yesterday and it’s cool outside now but I’m still heading off to the gym when I finish. I’m pretty much taking the day off with the youngest ones birthday so I can help with all the festivities. I think I’ll run now and get some more coffee and start the day. One more day of cold temps around here and then it’s supposed to warm up a bit. Give the 8 year old a call today if you can. The best time to reach us would be around 8:30 pm our time as we should be home by then. I’m sure the birthday boy will be showered with gifts today with a dozen kids attending his party. Sometimes his older brother gets more attention so we’re glad that it’s turning out to be a big day for  him. His brother came up to me last night and said, “dad, I haven’t got Ty a present yet” so today I’ll have to pick up something for him to give to his brother.
No tv yesterday and the kids didn’t miss a thing. Turns out nothing much changed in the world either. Politics still suck as does the economy and there’s still a bunch of bad people doing bad things. (you see the news never shows anything good as it doesn’t get ratings) We had classical music playing most of the day and I think I now know how to waltz. Maybe today the misses and I will dance!
Take care, God Bless and we hope you all are well and have a joyful day.