Ethan's Birthday Party

We gave Ethan several options for what he wanted to do for his birthday this year: Pump it Up, Chuck E. Cheese, Rainforest Cafe. I was actually suprised when he chose Rainforest Cafe. It is his favorite restaurant but I didn't really see it as a birthday place. We actually had not eaten there in several months. Mondo took the boys there a few weekends ago to finalize some bday plans and have lunch (I was home sleeping after work). He said Caleb totally freaked out! He climbed into Mondo's lap and buried his head in Mondo's chest and was shaking. He kept saying, "No monkeys!" Mondo had to take their lunch to go and ate it in the food court. Caleb was so traumatized that he even brought it up to me the next day: "Daddy...hold you...no monkeys...no dragon (the alligator)." Poor little critter! So, needless to say, Caleb did not attend his brother's birthday party. :-(

The birthday boy outside of Rainforest.

The birthday crew. I didn't have a chance to take a picture before the party so this is after...when they were all tired. Note Ethan and Will's face. :-) And Liam had already left. Left to right: Will, Caroline, Tyler, Ethan, Colton.

Tyler and Ethan when we first got there.

All of the kids were able to choose what they wanted for lunch off of Ethan's special birthday menu. The parents feasted on appetizers.

The birthday table.

It was a really cute set up. All of the kids got to keep their hat, they got a goodie bag, and they got to keep the Rainforest plate (a clean, prepackaged one of course).

We had the whole restaurant to ourselves...a perk of having the party in the middle of the week! The kids ran around and checked out all the animals.

They climbed on the tables to look at the fish.

Waiting for lunch wearing their birthday hats. Ethan's said "King of the Jungle".

Chowing down on lunch. Ethan had mac and cheese...of course.

I tried to get a nice picture but he was in a silly mood. This was the best I could do.

He requested a Superman cake this year. I was suprised by that since he doesn't really play with Superman stuff. And I guess Superman is going out of style because this was the only cake that all of the stores had. Luckily he thought it was cool.

Note Caroline and Liam in this pic: they are covering their ears. It is a loud place which is why Caleb doesn't like it. Caroline's mom said she wasn't a fan of Rainforest so I was proud of her for toughing it out!

They sang the Rainforest Cafe version of Happy Birthday. Our waitress shouted out to the empty restaurant, "Attention everyone! It's Ethan's 5th birthday!" I just had to laugh...there was only 1 other family there.

Missed the candle blowing shot. The boy is too fast! He couldn't wait to pull Superman out of the cake and lick off the icing. Apparently Will couldn't either...check out his tongue! Ha!

Anything Batman is a huge hit! Thanks to Jeffrey for picking it up on his lunch break, as Tyler informed us. :-)

He had plenty o' help opening presents.

Super Hero Squad!

Oh wait...one last suprise present...it's Colton!

After we had lunch at Rainforest, we headed over to Gameworks where the kids each got a one hour game card. Liam and Ethan really enjoyed this super hero game.

I hope this is the only motorcycle I ever see him on!

Tyler and Ethan were so cute "riding" this rollercoaster game. The chair vibrated and moved up and down as they watched a rollercoaster on the tv screen. They were cracking up the whole time.

Liam, Tyler, and Ethan playing pinball machines.