Wow, last weekend was completely exhausting, but really super fun.

My mom arrived Friday a little bit before I needed to go and pick Gabriel up from school. She went with me and got to meet Mrs. Fricke and peek in Gabriel's classroom. Unfortunately, Mrs. Rumohr had to take her son to the doctor that afternoon, so she wasn't able to meet his teacher.

When Rob got home from work on Friday night, my mom babysat for us so that we could head out to dinner at The Melting Pot. It's been probably about a year and a half since we've been able to go out to dinner as just the two of us. Dinner was fantastic.

Saturday morning when Gabriel woke up, his massive Squishable Android was waiting for him in the living room and he played with that while Rob ran to the bakery to pick up his cake (chocolate cake, custard filling, cream cheese icing, Mr. Bump on it) and while I took my shower and got ready. Then, it was time to open all of his presents. He told me that his favorite were the Cereal Killer collectable cards (they make parodies of different cereals combined with monsters and horror movies).

Later on, we headed over to Chuck E. Cheese's for Gabriel's 2:30pm party. He invited his friends from across the street Zane and Quinn (and their parents), his friend Lexsie from school (and her baby sister and her parents), and Mrs. Fricke (who he insists is a friend and not just a teacher). The party went well and Gabriel had a lot of fun. He went into the ticket blaster machine and won about 50 tickets, but didn't want to play any of the games this time. I don't blame him, the place was more crowded than I had ever seen it before. He loved his birthday crown and medallion and also loved it when Chuck E. (which I will still insist is a rat and not a mouse) came out for his party.

I'm pretty sure that for parents, Chuck E. Cheese's is one of the circles of Hell - but one that we must endure to make our kids happy especially on their birthday. Those parents that shun the giant rat will end up as Chuck E. Cheese party planners in their next lives. It's a rite of passage.

After his party we took him to Toys R Us. When we got there he said "I am at Toys R Us because it is my birthday and my parents love me". Too cute! He picked out some Dagedar balls and a racing track.

Later on we chilled out around the house watching ER shows while Gabriel played with his new toys and on his computer. We were ready to go to bed WAY before he was.

Sunday my mom headed out and back to her place and we got our errands done. Rob needed new socks and shoes so he went to Kohl's for them and was surprised to find the place packed and the stock so picked over that they didn't have anything he needed. We also did our grocery shopping.

All in all it was a great weekend, though rather exhausting for us adults. Gabriel had a fantastic time though, so it was all worth it to make him happy.

I still can't believe he's six now.