6!

Last Wednesday was Braden's 6th birthday! I didn't blog about it because we were planning to celebrate on Saturday and I figured I'd write about it after the party. His birthday was fun because Jade and I got to go to his class and deliver M&M cookies! He passed them out to all his classmates and let me just say that he was the most popular child in the class at that moment. Kids like their sugar. He also got a birthday crown at school too and wore it with pride the rest of the day. It was cool.

Saturday was crazy. Spencer and I made his party way more complicated than was necessary. And wouldn't you know? We didn't take a single photo (kicking myself right now!). It was just a family party this year. I've decided that every other year is a friend party and the alternating years are for family. The party started with a discovery that the birthday cake candles had been stolen. Then we were given video clues to start a search to find them. We first had to identify the thief from 3 suspects using clues I had strewn about the house. Then we had to check his mail box for correspondence. A puzzle had to be solved to find the mail box number and also to discover a "mystery" digit. The correspondence led to spot in our neighborhood where a clue and a coded message was hidden. The clues led to our CRV which had been parked in front of a neighbors house. Inside the CRV was a black light, a "blank" piece of paper, and a locked box. The paper actually had a digit written on it which appeared when the black light was shone on it. So after all the digits were put together, they were used to unlock the box. In the box was the final clue leading to the location of the candles. It was pretty fun for Braden, I think. It was rather embarrassing for me since I had to watch myself on a video (gag), but it was worth it. I was soooo happy that all our local family got to attend. That made it the most fun. I seriously can't believe that Braden is so old. For some reason, 5 didn't seem nearly as grown up as 6!