7 Years

Seven years ago at 6:52 in the evening our world got a lot bigger, better, and brighter. K was born, and we are so incredibly blessed to have this wonderful boy in our lives.

Johan took the day off work and we all skipped school to celebrate the special day. We started with presents, first thing in the morning. Then K asked for Dutch Pancakes for breakfast.





And the birthday boy with a stack of gifts from Nana.

Next it was time to play "Risk," which K received today. Both boys were so giddy setting this game up, and the excitement continued to mount for the first half hour of play. They were incredibly animated during all the dice rolling battles. C was totally engaged. After about an hour K had had enough. He explained to me, as only he can, in his I have a reason for everything tone, "I like this kind of game, but when it takes too long I don't like it as much." I had to agree, we were starting on the second hour of play and it appeared that we had made very little progress. C and Johan remained committed to their goal of global domination. I made some foolish mistakes (wink, wink) and was eliminated from the game. K requested that Johan roll for him and unwrapped a puzzle of the presidents that Nana had sent. Fortunately, C finally secured a dominant position and control of the world. K noticed with some disappointment that Barack Obama was included among the presidents on his puzzle. Are we sharing too many politics with our children???

After Risk, it was time for some X-box time. We usually really limit this, but on a special day the standards are gone. C gave K a new game, "Mech-Assault," and they were very excited to start the action.

At last it was lunch time, so we pulled the boys away from the X-box. K choose Stagecoach Pizza for lunch. Then it was off to the Keno Sports Complex for some target shooting. C and K were both ready to try out K's new pellet gun.

I may never understand the appeal of target shooting. For the boys however, just the sound of the crack of the rifle seems to make them smile. K spent most of his time with a smaller pellet gun that we decided to buy on the way to the Sportsman's Complex. It was a good size for him, and he was able to pump it with his own strength. The bigger gun that he got for his birthday required a lot of strength to pump. C enjoyed firing Johan's "Savage 17." It has a lot more power, and a lot more sound. C insists that it is also more accurate. By the end of the evening he was pumping his left hand in the air after every successful shot and calling out in a deep/harch primal kind of voice, "Smithereens!" A reference to the fact that his shot had just smashed the clay pigeon to smithereens.

Here are some shots from the rifle range at the Sportsman's Park.

The Keno Sportsman's Complex is (and I say this in a very positive light, with true respect), a redneck paradise. I am very grateful that such a place exists, it is a great place to take boys to "play." Clearly it is designed by men for men. The complex offers, rifle ranges, archery ranges and courses, a trap and skeet range, a moto-cross course, and even a remote control airplane runway. All of this is yours, for an annual membership fee of just $120. A bargain for sure.

A note on the whole shooting thing. Until about six months ago our household had a grand total of zero firearms. Fast forward, that number is now at six, with talk of even more. What happened? Klamath Falls. Everyone here hunts and fishes, and shoots things, and talks about shooting things, and dresses for shooting things. Hunting season is a big event in Klamath Falls, it is a huge part of the culture, and apparently we are going to embrace it. Still trying to resist the dressing for shooting things part, but for some reason both of my boys believe that camo is quite possibly the coolest fabric pattern ever. We don't own any camo clothing, however today K choose a camo bag for his new gun. Among all the choices, like a moth to a flame, he was pulled to the camo

Across from the rifle range is the trap and skeet area. For C and K the unbroken clay pigeons are treasures. They collect some of them to use as targets, but they also like to bring some home. Here they are with their loot.

We left the rifle range when it was nearly dark and headed for Red's BBQ. K loves the shrimp there, and it was his night. Because it was his birthday they offered him a free desert. Because it is his day and the standards are gone, he enjoyed his "Fluffy Pillow" desert. The name is a reference to the fact that this glorious treat is essentially a fluffy funnel cake filled with custard and covered with chocolate sauce. I couldn't help but imagine that the name was really foreshadowing, a dark reference to what it can do to my thighs. I managed to resist it, if only because all the while that the boys were shooting, I was in the car eating dark chocolate. After dessert part I, it was time to come home for ice cream cake and candles.

After the second round of dessert the boys squeezed in a little more X-box time and then, off to bed. Tonight I tucked in my new 7 year old. I pray that he knows how much we love him!

Up next: Birthday season Parts II and III. We're headed to Portland for some OMSI time and some hotel pool time with the Edwards. And then the birthday season's grand finale, C turns 9!