Can I set my alarm for 1:24?

Last night Owen asked if he could set his alarm for 1:24 am, so he could be awake when he turned 8. I talked him out of it and he came running down excited to be 8 this morning. As we were wishing him a happy birthday, we realized he actually was just about to be turning 8 as it was 7:15 am - 1:15 am in Minnesota. So we celebrated his real birthday without having to get up in the middle of the night after all!

I feel confident saying Owen had a fantastic birthday. The celebrations started yesterday as we hosted his party at a local indoor skatepark. Many children had never boarded before and by the end of the party they were nearly all going down ramps. Owen learned to 'drop in' and go off some pretty high jumps. It was really fun to see all the smiles. When there was just twenty minutes left, we gathered the kids to sing and eat cake. After we sang, while I was cutting the cake, they all left to go back to skate and ended up taking home their cake along with their goody bags! (the only downer of the event was realizing I really don't know how to use my new lens in an indoor setting...I don't like the color given by using the built in flash and don't know how to properly use my detachable flash...basically, I need to get going on my Photography class!)

Learning how to 'drop-in'

Today we started the day with O's request for banana bread. Owen rode his skateboard to school and then had a great day at school. Also per the birthday boy's request, we headed to Donatello's for dinner. With full bellies, we headed home for presents and a cupcake. 

Owen is growing into such a lovely young man. We feel so blessed to have him in our life. He certainly makes us proud. He gave out some seriously wonderful thank you hugs today...I hope they never stop.