Turning 33...little-boy style

Garry is the birthday boy at our house today. Although he had a grumptastic send-off to work this morning, we tried to make up for that with evening celebrations. (And a Red Robin lunch date, but don't tell the first-grader.)

Zachary and Tyler thought Garry should have a full-fledged birthday party with a theme, balloons, a bunch of guests, and party games. Here are some photos of the low-key, family-only compromise.

Construction paper hats decorated by Tyler.

Gavin's hat lasted about three seconds.

A scavenger hunt to find presents that were hidden around the house.

Reading the first clue, which led him to a present in the garage freezer.

The frozen present.

A things-we-love-about-Daddy version of "Don't Eat Pete!" We called it "Don't Eat Dad!"

The things we love about Daddy.

Garry got through every square on his first turn!

Present-opening ceremonies.

Garry was appropriately enthusiastic about all the simple gifts from the kids.

All of the boys loved trying on Dad's new hats.

{Flaming} cake and ice cream.

Those are 33 candles, baby! Garry blew them all out in one breath, much to his sons' delight.

Mmm...delicious.

Two amusing things happened today to make Garry's birthday especially memorable. First, after work he was in the back yard with the boys. While he waited for the barbecue to warm up (he was the grill master for his own birthday dinner), he put Gavin in the swing. Afterward he brushed off his hands and felt his wedding ring fly off. He quickly convened a search party, since the dead, golden grass cleverly masked the ring's hiding place. Eventually he was the one to find the ring, amidst sighs of relief all around. Garry's recent 30-pound weight loss has been awesome, but this is an incident we hope not to repeat!

At least one of us needs to wear a wedding ring right now!

The second event occurred after Gavin and Tyler were in bed but before Zach was down for the night. Since the acquisition of a giant television for our family room last month, the old set has been sitting in the corner. My light-duty situation has made me long for a TV in the bedroom, and since we suddenly have an extra, Garry decided to move it upstairs tonight. I encouraged him to call someone to help move the heavy beast, but he was confident he could do it alone. After huffing and puffing 2/3 of the way up the stairs, taking rests along the way, he suddenly announced he was calling someone to help. The TV was hopelessly wedged between the wall and the banister. Oops. Dan, Garry's trusty home teaching companion, responded quickly to Garry's distress call, and together the guys extracted the TV and moved it to the right place.

The wedged TV...along with Zachary, who wasn't too disappointed
that access to his bedroom was blocked an hour after his usual bedtime.

Thanks, Garry, for being a fabulous husband and father, and for providing such amusing anecdotes for the old blog today! Love ya!