Happy Birthday Gabriel!

Gabriel celebrated his 4th birthday on the 24th. I can't believe he is already 4 years old. We talked to Gabriel about planning his special day . . . and we thought we had an understanding of what he wanted. It turns out our "plan your day" birthday didn't work as well with Gabe as it did with Eli. Eli knew a few weeks before his birthday exactly what he wanted to do on his birthday. Gabriel changed his mind numerous times prior to the big day and continually throughout the day! It is very hard to meet the expectations of a 4 year old when they are constantly changing.
In the end, Gabriel woke up and after much discussion picked his breakfast, headed off to school where we had ice cream sundaes with his class after lunch, then came home and played the Wii with me (using controller number 1 - a big deal). After after picking up Eli from school we met the Swanson at the bowling alley. Gabriel bowled first, had some cake, and then spent some time in the arcade. Unfortunately, the arcade didn't have many kid-friendly games, but he made the best of it. Once we were done at the bowling alley we were off to dinner and shopping at ToysRus. The dinner decision was so stressful. He wavered back and forth between pasta and chips and salsa, with Eli chiming in about pizza. After 30 minutes of discussion we ended up at Baja Fresh.
I think he had a good day. Throughout the day he had phone calls from aunties, and grandparents and simply enjoyed the fact that it was "his" day.