Isaac's WWII Birthday

Isaac turned nine last week.  We celebrated by taking a family road trip to Corpus Christi to see the USS Lexington aircraft carrier, and with a party at home featuring a (pretty darn awesome) "lemon cake with chocolate and caramel frosting in the shape of a WWII tank" as requested by the birthday boy himself.  There were also presents, an Isaac trivia game, and five very happy kids.  We sure love our Isaac!  Happy Birthday kiddo.

Here are the beginnings of what looked like might be a very pathetic tank cake.  Isaac looks worried.

But after some more trimming and shaping and a whole lot of tootsie rolls. . .

 voila!  Do I deliver.  Or do I deliver.  You can see the tank in the background Isaac brought in to help me capture the vision.

In the end, Isaac was pumped. 

Before we dug in though, Isaac opened his presents. He got a knight in shining armor costume (from Eliza and Lydia).  And some books and a new watch.

 Nate gave him a set of (ebay) Lego troops for his space army.

 And he also got some new Professor Layton DS games and this miniature 3-D airplane puzzle from grandma Melissa and grandpa Tim.

Here is the hilarious card she sent with it.  If you've ever been to the ranch and have seen my mom's "owl" on the porch to scare away the magpies, you'll know why this is card is funny.

And after a raucous rendition of "Happy Birthday", Isaac blew out all nine candles and we devoured his chocolate-caramel-lemon tank cake.

Happy Birthday Isaac.  I've said it every year since the day you were born (with your flamin' orange hair and a personality as vibrant to match!)  "Life would be utterly boring without you."  It's still true.  Thank you for nine years (and counting!) of excitement and adventure.  I hope you don't ever loose your passion and exuberance! We love you Isaac!