Lex’s seventh birthday is next week but we had the party today. My dearest Karen advised me of a Groupon this summer for a roller-skate party for eight children and I jumped on that like a little kid jumps on a mattress. I hadn’t been to the place before and every single thing exceeded my expectations. The Groupon covered a party for eight kids with pizza, soda, rollerskate rental, arcade tokens, cups/plates, and a souvenir cup w/ Icee and a trip to the prize machine for the birthday boy. It was fantastic. We had a party host who kept things running smoothly and we all had a blast.

It was also very gratifying that the time I spent decorating the Pikachu birthday cake –after bringing the boys home from Cub Scouts at 9:00 last night– was time well spent. Lex lost his mind over it. “I thought it was going to be a dinosaur, but Pikachu? It blowed my mind.”