Michael turns five with good grace

Yesterday was Michael's fifth birthday. I remember being five myself, very clearly, so this birthday is a bit of a milestone for me, as was Marcus's fifth. The boys brains now are making the memories they will keep into old age.

Luckily his birthday fell on Saturday and we had his party right on the day. He woke up not particularly excited, but not quacking with grumpiness as with previous birthdays. He wasn't demanding to stay four, as he had demanded to stay three (and previously two). When Marcus brought in the presents Michael began to liven up.

Last week I took him in to Australian Geographic to look at prospective presents, so we knew he would like what we bought. From us he has a set of stick-on-glow-in-the-dark planets and stars, now adorning the ceiling of his room. From Marcus he has a solar system jigsaw - a very basic one but he loves it all the same. It came with a natty poster of the old S. system. In fact there are two double-sided posters, so now we can also use them to learn Spanish, French and German!

S. system merchandisers have adjusted to the new 'No Pluto' scheme of things, but what they didn't reckon on was Dwarf Planet Creep. Most of the material we are seeing says there are 3 dwarf planets (Eris, Ceres, Pluto), but there are currently five (+ Haumea and Makemake). Stay tuned for updates.

We put a fair amount of energy and stress into a party, and thankfully it all went well. Michael's choice of his kinder classmates came by with parents and some siblings, and everyone seemed to have a very nice time. Elf and I don't go all that much on party games, and for the fives we thought we could get away with just some kite flying and a general invitation to swing, bounce, and get immersed in lego. Three at a time were in the hammock.

I set up a treasure hunt at the park above our house, by way of getting kids up to the kite flying venue. Unfortunately, once I had set down 12 kinder eggs in quite a large field, I couldn't see even one of them. Somehow they were all tracked down. Kites flew. I scrambled down the hill to get hats for the hatless, as the sun was beating down. As I was scrambling back up again the rain began. It was that kind of day.

Michael really enjoyed his party and his whole day. He has a really nice bunch of friends, and we could tell by watching them all together that they are very fond of him. The parents are are also a good lot, very interesting people. But boy were we pleased when they all left! The wind down is so pleasant, after spending a few days getting everything scrubbed, wrapped and sorted out. The boys played with the new loot most of the afternoon and Elf and I lay about like (well dressed and attractive) sloths. One month from now Marcus turns seven.