Joshua's 6th Birthday Party

Joshua's birthday party was today and an awesome time was had by all. We had it at Out of This World Pizza! We decided to do it there mainly for the "wow" factor for the kids, but also because it is a very easy birthday party to put on for parents with a new baby. All we had to do was some initial planning and then show up with balloons -- Out of This World staff took care of all the rest.

It was pretty funny because we figured that the kids would play most of the time and we'd have to round all 14 of 'em up when it was time for pizza, then cake and ice cream and then presents. What ended up happening was when the pizza was ready, they announced over the loudspeaker, "Joshua's party, your pizza is ready!" Somehow, all these kids that were scattered throughout the huge crowded play area came rushing to the table in a single throng, ready for their pizza! When it was time for cake, Jake went to pick it up from the front counter and, encouraged by the success of the pizza announcement, asked if they would announce that it was cake time for Joshua's party. Sure enough, it was as if the pied piper had made the announcement and almost all 14 kids appeared out of the woodwork (Daniel was on the lam most of the time, playing too hard to be bothered with food). And since we all know that the 3rd time's a charm, he had them do it once again for the ice cream. No matter what the kids were doing or where they were, they heard that announcement and came rushing back. It was pretty cute and it made things pretty easy for us!

I think I can safely say that everyone had a great time, especially the birthday boy who told me repeatedly that this was the "best birthday party ever!" We are really grateful for the friends we've made here in Oregon -- there's lots of neat people here and we're so glad they could help us celebrate our special guy!