Reagan Family: Henry Day

So, at some point (likely while I was neglecting this poor blog), my little man turned 5! His birthday was on Friday and he wanted to bring a treat in to his class and celebrate at school. So, we played hooky and had an early birthday celebration on Wednesday. We started out by going to a preschool skate at Oaks Park. I have fond memories of skating there as a child and the place hasn't changed a bit. Henry was pretty apprehensive about his first time skating, but was feeling much more comfortable by the end (with the wheels firmly locked, of course) even managing to dance the hokey pokey and chicken dance. Owen didn't really seem to notice the skates on his feet and was more preoccupied with chasing down the balls they threw out on to the skating floor - skating, crawling, whatever got him there the fastest! :)

After finishing up at Oaks Park, we headed to the Spaghetti Factory for a birthday lunch. (And for the record, don't get Henry started on the Spaghetti Factory. We have had many many conversations about the name of the restaurant. He thinks it's like the Tillamook Cheese Factory where they make cheese, you know, in the factory. And we've had to explain to him many times that the Spaghetti Factory isn't actually a real factory, but just a fun name for the restaurant). :)

And what special day is complete without a super fun car wash?

After that it was time for a short "rest" at home to decorate Henry's cake while Owen napped. And let me tell you, this cake was a doozy for me to figure out. As I do every year, I asked Henry what kind of cake he wanted (thinking it would be something like last year's truck cake). He responded right away with, "a fence cake." Blinking like a deer caught in headlight, I decided I should probably ask for a clarification, "What do you mean by a fence cake, Henry?" To which he responded very matter of fact, "Like a pretend fence, Mommy, with people on the other side." Righhht. So, after much time thinking about what a fence cake would look like, perusing Pinterest and wandering through the aisles at Target and Toys R Us, I finally had an idea. I'm guessing the fences part of the cake came from all the time we spent waiting in lines at Disneyland (most of which was spent with Nate and me telling him to stop hanging on the fences), and it was apparently very memorable to him. And so, a Disneyland cake it was. Complete with fences made of Twizzlers and pretzels to wait for the Cars ride. And it seemed to satisfy him, so I feel accomplished!