The big 5.....

  We decided that 5 was a good year for the first "classroom" birthday party.  We asked Carac where he wanted the party to be and his response, after much deliberation, was Pump It Up.  One of those wonderful inflatable warehouse locations where they allow the kids (and parents) to play for 90 minutes, and the reward for patient parents is supposed to be a nap sometime in the afternoon.
  We started making plans, and found out that Carac's best friend Connor was planning to have his party there as well.  Their birthdays are a little over a month apart, but with the way they fell, we would have ended up having the parties about 3 weeks apart.  Since the boys agreed (and the parents we ecstatic) we went ahead with a joint birthday party.
  It wound up being a few weeks early for Carac's actual birthday, so we've been faced with a little confusion on his part as to heather or not he's actually 5.  At this point it's close enough right????

  Well, Carac wanted to wake up at 5 am, and I managed to convince him to sleep in until about 7:15 am.  We woke up to about 7 inches of snow on the ground, which is overwhelming for the city of Evansville.  I mean some winters they don't even total that in accumulation, so to get that in a span of less than 8 hours can be unnerving.  Thankfully the party was still on.

  We got to location plenty early and Carac was anxious.  A few minutes later, Connor and his family showed up and the boys had fun wearing themselves (and their parents) out running around the lobby.  Other kids started arriving, and total we had about 20 kids there bouncing, jumping, and sliding to their hearts' content.  There were even a few parents that got involved, some a little more willingly than others.

 

The birthday boys showing everyone how old they are!

One of the inflatables in the warehouse.  There was also a bounce house, a slide, and a circular racetrack.

Someone's having fun!!!!!

Ben even got in and had some fun with the kids.  Carac kept asking him to make them bounce higher!!!

  Overall the day was a huge success. The parents were thankful for an opportunity to get the kids out of the house, and the birthday boys were so excited to have some of their best friends there celebrating their 5 birthday.
  The friends were overly generous and Carac got quite a few new things to keep him busy. Legos seem to be his new favorite and he got quite a few kits and has already put Ben to work putting the first one together. I'm hoping to get them packed so if we lose any pieces it will be at the new house where they can hopefully be found, and not here at our current house where they would be lost forever.