Nick's 8th birthday 'party'

For Nick's 8th birthday, we gave him the option of a traditional birthday party with lots of guests and hoopla, or a cake with a couple of friends and a modest cash gift that he could put in his piggy bank. He chose the cake, friends, and cash, which I think was the right choice.

He's been saving for a laptop computer to call his very own for about eight months now, and when you only get $2 allowance per week, your savings build very  s  l  o  w  l  y.

Nick and Nathaniel are both VERY into the computer game Minecraft right now (you can play it on the PC, and it's an app in iTunes, too), so I had his cake decorated with one of the Minecraft characters ... a Creeper.

He's a real looker, isn't he? If you've never had the privilege of seeing a Creeper on your screen, please. Allow me.

Image via Minecraft Wiki

Our intrepid cake maker Vickie, who has never in her life seen a Creeper, did a great job making one for Nick's cake. Although I think it gave her nightmares.

Nick was SO happy with it, though. He was totally surprised by the design and couldn't wait to dig in!

He had requested a strawberry cake, so the inside was a moist, delicious strawberry-flavored cake with real strawberry bits in it. GAW. It was so good.

 

The whole family gathered around to eat it, and Amelia enjoyed it just as much as she'd enjoyed her own birthday cake just a couple of weeks before.

Nick's good friend Wells, who is in his class at school, joined us for the evening, and he stayed until 10:30 that night. (Another request of Nick's ... to get to stay up until 10:30! Super late! He was so excited.) Wells was a model guest, and they had a fabulous time together.

The next afternoon, Nick's friend Drake came over to play for several hours. Drake is in the after-school program with Nick and Nathaniel, and he fit in great with our boys. I'd gotten them some foam battle rods, and they and Jake went at it on the trampoline for over an hour.

If you thought Jake was going to be a shrinking violet against two boys who are twice his age, think again.

 

He may be 4 years old to their 8, but he doesn't take crap off of ANYBODY, regardless of age.

 

Please notice Nick running OUT of the fray here ...

And who ended up on top here.

 

And here.

THAT'S my plucky little 4-year-old.

After the trampoline beat-down, there was some Wii play in the den, which was slightly calmer.

Nick had such a great birthday weekend, and I'm so proud of him for making the choice to celebrate with a couple of close friends and put the money we would have spent on a party toward a long-term purchase. He really is growing up!