Birthdays

I have never been a real fan of kid's birthday parties. Even when my big boys were young they weren't something we did. Of course we always had a family party and there were enough kids, aunts and uncles, and grandparents to more than create a crowd. I love those gatherings. We had BIG birthday parties for the milestone birthdays (8, 13, and 16).
It seems to me that nowadays the simple birthday cake and ice cream, pin the tail on the donkey and drop the clothespins in the bottle games just aren't acceptable. Instead, you need to rent a jumpy or two, have a three course meal prepared as well as a goody bag that rivals an awards' show swag bag.
So this year as I anticipated Ter's 9th birthday I decided to get a little creative. My sister threw together an impromptu barbecue a couple of days before that included a birthday cake. Low key ... my favorite. But that still left the big day. What to do? What to do?
So, I invented the "Birthday Tour". The birthday boy got to choose an entire day's worth of activities that would culminate with dinner at a restaurant (you know, the kind you have to call for reservations as opposed to the ones you drive through!).
Well, it was such a success that I think we have hit on a new tradition worthy of many a repeat performance.
Our day started early (too early in my opinion, but it wasn't my birthday) with a stop at an auto supply. Yes, that is weird and no, we didn't get him a car for his birthday. Well, yeah we did .... a little Matchbox Pixar Cars 2 car. Evidently, Kragen is the only place you can find the elusive Francesco Bernoulli car along with Nigel Gearsley.  My little Mr. Personality had a lengthy conversation with the salesperson about the movie and managed to throw in that it was his birthday.
Next we headed to Panera for breakfast (thank goodness, because I was starving by now).  This is the birthday boy's very favorite eatery. He had a celebratory cherry danish and a blackberry smoothie. I restrained myself with a bagel and hot chocolate (all the while I was eyeing that cherry pastry). While we ate breakfast we enjoyed people watching and discussing the rest of the day's plans.
After breakfast we were off to Barnes & Noble where he was anxious to spend one of his birthday gifts (thank you Great-Aunt Jeanie) ... a B&N gift card! It was very hard to settle on which books to spend his precious card on - there were so many choices. Several times a book was carried around only to be returned because a different title was spotted. I was pleasantly surprised (okay, downright thrilled is a better description) when he chose three classics to add to his pile. The Three Musketeers, Moby Dick and Treasure Island (children's classic versions) were chosen along with some Phineas and Ferb, Stink, and Snow Buddies. We lucked out that they were having a story time so we got to enjoy some entertainment along with our purchase.
I know it's hard to believe but now it was lunch time. If you're nine and you get to choose lunch the natural choice is McDonald's.
Then it was off to the movies. Whoo-hoo! The birthday boy picked the Smurf movie. Thank goodness that it had Neil Patrick Harris in it 'cuz the part animation/part live-action is not my favorite genre. And I have never loved those little blue guys. But it had a good theme about family and I had a coupon for free popcorn so it was all good.
The final event of the day was the one I was looking forward to. I had read this great article in Bon Appetit Magazine about this NYC family with two little girls. The family celebrated birthdays by letting the girls choose a restaurant with a different country's cuisine on each birthday. Something the author said really struck me. He took his daughters to a special restaurant on their birthdays, not necessarily for the cuisine but for the experience.
So we chose to celebrate at a  "teppan-yaki" style Japanese restaurant where the chef cooks your meal in front of you on a steel grill. It was a hit and we had a most excellent chef. The two little boys gamely tried chopsticks and did quite well while the rest of us happily scarfed down our dinner with the traditional forks.
The day's excellent adventures were a success when our little birthday boy announced to everyone that this was "the most awesomest birthday ever!"

A tradition has begun!