The celebration of Zak's birth was not a one-time thing this year. It started just minutes after we arrived Friday and continued until we left yesterday afternoon. We gave him the present we got for him right away so we could actually see him open it. A little later Kel and Christina and their boys arrived, so they did the same thing. In the spirit of the giving season, we pulled out the gift we brought from Nathan and April and Cailyn and gave him that one, too. Not a bad start.
The whole Starbucks plan for this morning finally happened, but not exactly as I had hoped. I was up around 5:30, but Kel didn't get up until 7:30 or so. He and Christina headed on over to the old house, so we ended up leaving from there. The big birthday bash started at the neighborhood swimming pool around 10. Quite a few kids from their church came, so it was crowd the crowd. The most exciting even of the day came when the pod races started. Oh, did I forget to mention that the whole theme was Star Wars? Josh and Christi decided shortly after Zakary was born that they would make his sixth birthday something special. A real rite of passage. So they wouldn't allow him to see any of the Star Wars movies until he turned six. That made for several levels of celebration on the big day. Hence the theme. Everyone was issued a light saber (pool noodle) when they arrived. The decorations were all Star Wars images, and most of the gifts fit the theme as well. But the pod races really took the cake, so to speak. Josh and Kel and another Dad lined up at one end of the pool. Each was assigned a float with one of the kids on it. On "Go" the adults became the engines and pulled the kids' pods through the water. Great fun for everyone, except maybe the "engines."
After the party the family, which by now included Christi's parents as well, retired to Josh and Christi's house for pizza. And two college guys we knew from Arlington arrived just in time to eat. What is it about being in college and arriving just in time for pizza? Ah, those were the days. After pizza? What else? We watched Star Wards, Episode IV, the first one they produced. Zak was entranced, and never took his eyes from the screen. And I thought the day was done after the movie, but no. We all walked into the kitchen where Christi produced a birthday cake, candles and all, decorated with Legos Start Wars characters. Cake and Blue Bell ice cream. The best. The final event of the day (for us at least, because we had to get on the road back to Galveston) was a huge light saber battle between the two college kids and all the little guys. Josiah even made an appearance or two as they beat on each other time and time again with those pool noodles. If the level of laughter was any indication, I would say they had a pretty good time. So, Happy birthday, Zakary. When does Empire Strikes Back begin?
Psalms 1:1-3 says, "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers."
Father, thank you for blessing us with the boys you gave us and the grandchildren you gave us through them. Sure is fun. Amen.
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