Seven!

Yup. He's seven! My dark-haired, chocolate-eyed child - my principled, logical and sometimes vulnerable little boy who chats my ear off about the velocity of bullet trains in China and the exact dimensions and workings of his latest Lego contraptions - Yes, my Clayton. . . who trumps me in patience and kindness daily is already seven years old.
I have a lot to learn from you, kiddo.

We celebrated today with the ultimate science-fest birthday party, which in Clayton's words was the best day in his whole life ever! He can't believe it!

Invitations were sent. . .
(I told him he could invite four friends.)

We ended up with eleven.
And the party began by decorating "science sacks" which were then loaded with all the essential science supplies. . .
before heading outside where Professor Daddy conducted an exciting list of science experiments. . .



which included growing crystals. . .



cracking geodes. . .



creating a volcanic eruption. . .




digging for fossils and gemstones. . .

and the only mishap of the day (which unfortunately was not captured on film), was the 15-foot geyser that erupted prematurely - while no one was watching - right into Nate's face.
Here's a picture of the aftermath. . . yup. this is all we saw.


I love this last picture of Briggs who, as you can see, was a particularly attentive science student.


After the science extravaganza, we headed back in for (drum roll)
Volcano Cupcakes! and an Earth Brownie Cake with ice cream.


Next. . . presents.


Besides an ample supply of more Lego's (including a coveted electronic-remote-control piece), here are a few of his other birthday gifts. Thank you to all! Clayton is definitely now in science heaven.

After the party (instead of cleaning up) we took our little rock-scientist rock climbing of course! Which he made look WAY too easy (zipping to the top on three different climbs). Isaac attempted a climb too but at about 3.5 feet wimped out, whined, cried, yelled, and refused to try again. Oh well. . . goodbye $6.

Afterward, we ate a late lunch at the Rainforest Cafe which included another sparkling volcano cake!

Happy Birthday, Claydog!

Thanks for keeping
life interesting, learning fun,
and our days continually filled
with smiles!

.