Malcolm is 10!?!

Today, Malcolm turned 10!  I have no idea how that happened, because it seems like he was a preschooler just yesterday.  He's also seeming much more grown up lately, so I guess he must really be 10.

This year, we kept the "party" very simple. We stayed local, walked everywhere, and I had zero planning, decorating, or baking to do.  YES!

 This dog wasn't sure what was going on, but he was certain that he had to be a part of it.  I took this photo while Malcolm was opening gifts, and did not have to move or do anything special to get sure a close-up photo of his face.  I think the dog is in every single picture I took this morning.

 Malcolm had to wait until we were all awake, and I had breakfast in the over before he could open presents.  It's a miracle he didn't explode.  He lined them all up by size, and opened them in descending size order.

His "big gift" (read, only) from us was his own computer and permission to, finally, play Minecraft.  He is beyond excited.

 It's hard to see because of the sun, but he just stared, open mouthed, at the Lego Millennium Falcon that Grandma & Grandpa sent.  He started putting it together, but didn't quite finish it in one day.

 It was hard for Dorothy to watch her brother open gifts, but she did better this year than in previous years.

They actually got along pretty well today.  They even hugged a couple of times, and I heard Dorothy tell Malcolm that she loved him (and he didn't grumble in reply).  I love when they get along.

 To kick of the friend celebration, we met at a local restaurant for a pizza lunch.  The kids put away more pizza than I thought they might, especially considering the amount of popcorn they ate before the pizza arrived.

Up next was the Underground Retrocade, which is all vintage video games.  Malcolm loves this place, but I'm never sure what his friends will think when we invite them.  I shouldn't have worried because they all had a great time trying out lots of different games.  Because it was early afternoon, we had the place nearly to ourselves.

Malcolm and I raced on this game too.  I won the first race, and he came in last.  On the rematch, he just barely beat me.

 I liked that the kids paired up in all sorts of different groupings while playing the games.  Sometimes they played alone, other times in pairs, and once all four of them played together.  It was nice to have so many choices.

Malcolm loves Road Rally, but the other two boys found it a little hard to control.

 Kevin and Dorothy played lots of games together.  Here, they are playing X-Men, and Dorothy really knows what she is doing.  I played with her earlier, and she was telling me what I needed to do.

 He focus wasn't always so great.  They had Star Wars playing on TV screens, and she was trying to watch the movie and play games at the same time.

Possibly not the least appropriate game for kids, but the concept of them pouring and serving beer is funny.  Dorothy really liked Tapper, and was pretty good at it, once we figured it out.  Kevin and I don't remember this particular game from our youth.  It was referenced in the Wreck it Ralph movie and we hadn't realize that it had been an actual game.  It was fun to play it after seeing it in the movie.

 After a fun afternoon playing video games, we walked down to a little frozen custard place and waited for the parents to pick up their kids.  They were a very good group, and hopefully everyone had a good time.

 The birthday boy, on our walk home.

Once we got home, he collapsed on the kitchen floor.  I'd say it was a very good day, turning 10.