Will is six!

I think having only two kids makes each birthday a little bittersweet.  Each of Anna's birthdays makes me realize that we are moving further away from babyhood, and each of Will's birthdays makes me realize we are moving closer to the teen years.  I feel like I need a kid in the middle whose birthday I can celebrate without getting all mushy.  I told John that Will has already lived 1/3 of his "at-home" time with us (assuming, of course, that he moves off to college--which we will strongly encourage, can't support these kids forever!).

Anyway, Will is indeed six years old.  I asked him several months ago if he wanted to have a friend birthday or if he wanted to go somewhere for his birthday.  He said he wanted to go to SeaWorld, so I jumped on that and made plans--so much easier than planning a big birthday party!

We left the house early Saturday morning and went to SeaWorld.  I haven't been there since early childhood (at least 25 years ago), so it was a new experience for me as well as the kids.  We had a fantastic time.

Both kids loved feeding the stingrays:

They were a little agressive (the stingrays, not the kids!):

The kids were mesmerized by the dolphin show:

It was super hot, so we ended up leaving the park around 3 pm and headed back to the hotel for a quick swim.

Afterwards, we met Barb, Cindy, and Shawn at the Flying Fish Cafe for Will's birthday dinner.  The menu was a little, um, sophisticated for a 6-year-old's birthday (although my potato-wrapped snapper was fantastic!), but the cake was a hit:

The next morning, we went to Ohana's for breakfast:

Will got to wear a birthday button:

The kids had fun parading around the restaurant with Mickey:

And Will got a surprise birthday cupcake:

(I ended up eating it--he was only interested in the little umbrella!)

Will and Anna hugged all the characters:

Then we took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom for a few quick rides. 

We saw Princess Tiana:

Anna loves Princess Tiana--both kids really liked "A Princess and a Frog." Princess Tiana threatened to kiss Will and turn him into a frog, so he kept his distance from her!

We left the Magic Kingdom (a lot of it is closed for construction) and went to Epcot.  By that time, the day was heating up--the high was over 90 degrees.  We cooled off with some kakigori:

While snacking, we spotted a mama duck and several ducklings (pardon my terrible focusing skills):

It's Flower and Garden Festival time, and this was my favorite topiary:

Don't you love Lady's ears?

We stopped in a souvenir shop in Germany and Will and Anna both asked if they could buy a sword.  I knew that Nana was sending Will a sword, so I talked him into a crown.  He was quite happy with it:

This is how you keep a father happy in Epcot:

Brats and beer!

By that time, we were hot, sweaty, and tired, so we headed for home.

Will's official birthday fell on a Tuesday, so I took cupcakes to school for his class.  He requested a snake cake, so I tried my best:

The heads were a little wonky, but they tasted fine and Will was happy:

Anna and I did a little bed makeover while he was at school, so he arrived home to this:

He has been more into snakes than Star Wars lately, but he still thought the Darth Vader quilt was great.

More gifts, including an impressively wrapped package that Nana sent through the mail.  Can you guess which package contained his sword??

I also knitted another snake from the yarn he picked out in New York:

For his birthday dinner, I made macaroni and cheese topped with crushed potato chips and bacon--not very healthy, but very yummy!  Since Will prefers ice cream to cake, we did ice cream sundaes for dessert:

I looked at Will's birthday post from last year and I think I would post almost the exact same thing this year.  (Aside from his size stats, of course.  He's 48 pounds and 48 inches this year.)  He still likes the same things, although he is most "into" snakes right now, with Star Wars, Spiderman, and other superheroes being tied for a distant second place.  He still loves to draw and is really creative about making up games and activities.  He still fights quite a bit with Anna, usually because she refuses to participate in those games and activities.

He is a pretty good student--he is very smart with his schoolwork and is learning to read very well.  He struggles with listening skills, both at school and at home, so we've been working a LOT on that.  He also has had a bit of a rebellious streak these last few months which has caused us some parenting headaches.  However, he loves his friends at school and loves playing with Anna, too (when she cooperates!).

And, to keep with a new tradition, here is a survey of his current favorite things (parenthetical additions are mine):

Friend: Rodney and Aleksander. (Yesterday it was Jacob, fyi.) 

Restaurant: The one with the spinning doors. (BJ's Brewhouse--same as last year.)

Movie: Rango.

Toy: New remote-controlled rattlesnake from Aunt Laurie.

Sport to play: Soccer.

Favorite shirt: Snake shirt.

Pizza topping: Sauce and cheese.

School lunch: Applesauce.

Book: Mickey's Christmas Carol.  (Yes, we're still reading it in May.)

Color: Every one of them.  Even red.

Song:  I don't know.  Write "zero."  (He constantly makes up his own songs, though.)

Favorite thing to do as a family: Making stuff with the pillows and playing. (Lots of forts from the couch pillows.)

Breakfast: Eggs and bacon.

Favorite thing to play with Anna: Make her watch my shows and stuff.

Bible story: David and Goliath.
Bible verse: "Zion heard, and was glad." Psalm 97:8.   (I suspect this is his favorite because it was the letter "Z" verse they learned this year, as in the final one.)

After-school snack: Applesauce.

TV Show: Cat in the Hat.

Candy: Every one of them. (That is true.)

Ice cream flavor: Vanilla. (No changes here, either.)

What do you want to be when you grow up: A pet store keeper.  (This was prompted by a class field trip to an exotic pet store.)

Store: Walmart.  It has lots of toys inside it.

Board game:  Candy Land.