Tristan’s 9th Birthday

Monday August 8th, we were able to celebrate Tristan’s 9th birthday.  It’s hard to believe that this boy is now halfway to being an adult!  I will say that sometimes the hours go slowly but the years rush by with speed.  This was Tristan’s special day; a day he was treated as the special boy that he is, a day off of household chores, a day some wishes are granted and a day to have fun.  Plus we as parents got to spend a little one on one time with Tristan.  Time is a commodity around this house.

Tristan really really really wanted me to make cinnamon buns for his breakfast this morning since I usually only make them for special occasion days and so I did.  I couldn’t refuse his sweet little face, his pleading and his “Pleeease”.  Funny thing, as I was cutting the butter and dry ingredients together, a scent from them wafted up and I thought “Christmas???”.  I guess I associate these with special occasions too.  They were yummy.  And yes, the glaze is blue but I had no sprinkles this time.

Lindsay babysat for us at lunchtime and we took Tristan out just by himself.  First he had a birthday coupon for 20 free tokens at Chuck E. Cheeses so he got to go and play some games.  He looked for a few that we could play with him and he also played some of his favorites like a pinball game and “Deal or No Deal”.  We had a good time doing the kinds of things with him that he so much enjoys.  Once the tokens were spent we moved on to Tristan’s favorite restaurant for lunch.  He loves going to Red Lobster because he really likes crab and lobster and so today he chose to spend some of his birthday money on this.  Going out to eat like this is a special treat reserved for a birthday and he loved it.  He ordered a lobster tail off the kids menu since they didn’t have crab legs on the kids menu this year.  We also had an appetizer of lobster pizza and he let them sing happy birthday to him in front of every one.  We had a nice time together without distraction. 

In the evening back at home we did all of the other birthday things like open birthday cards.

His sisters presented him with a funny painted rock collection as a surprise;  Every one’s favorite was the duck and the slice of pizza.  Then there were presents.

He got a CARS game for the DS, Jeep Thrills game for the Wii, a video of Wall-E which he and Lindsay have seen at school and love.  (Thank you Half Price Books).  Then there were clothes.  This boy has grown taller over the past year… inches and inches and some bigger clothes were in order.  The “Real Old School” t-shirt with the dino skeleton may have been his favorite. 

Actually Tristan likes shirts… that is, INTERESTING shirts… a great deal.  Pants he could care less about but knows he must have.  Pants are boring, he states.  He really liked his official Reds T-shirt that will go with his Reds cap.

Another baseball shirt he likes.

He was in heaven with all the baseball shirts… not so much with two button down shirts and church pants.  Again, he’d grown inches and the only church pants he had left were looking kind of silly on him at this point.  Then came the good stuff.  Finally! 

Lego and Star Wars in one!  How can you go wrong?  The Wampa Cave is very exciting to this boy and he can hardly wait to get into it.

For a late dinner, at Tristan’s request, I made Zuppa Toscana, Olive Garden style.  (Thank you Aunt Rachael).  This is a spicy version of Tristan’s favorite soup with sausage, potatoes and kale.  We had cheesy biscuits to go with the soup but we were too full to serve the fruit bowl we had been going to make featuring his favorite berries and grapes.  After all, we had to save room for dessert on a birthday.

Tristan couldn’t think of anything he wanted more than his Aunt Stacey’s Chocolate Mousse Pie, not that I can blame him.  It is delicious. 

So we sang happy birthday to our now 9 year old boy and let him make his birthday wish.

He got them but it’s getting harder with all those candles.

Tristan’s favorite Double Chocolate Moose Tracks ice cream was served with his pie along with a glass of milk and this was one happy birthday boy.  We had a great day with Tristan who is a wonderful and important part of our family.  We hope he has a very happy year coming his way.