The big oh-four

The big Sam news this week is Sam's fourth birthday, which occurred over the weekend. Susan did a bang-up job planning and executing it, and our great thanks go to Amy for all her hard work getting the place ready and watching Sam.
The party was a great success! Six of Sam's friends came over: Dan, a quiet boy with a great laugh and pleasant disposition; Isaac, the 2.5-yr-old son of friends Marvin and Nicole; Sam's good friends Lexie and Ian; and two girls from Montessori he really enjoys playing with, Alicia and Ariana. It was a very good group, and the kids all behaved well. Most notably, Sam behaved well, which I don't take for granted: that many kids, the excitement, are all a recipe for fussiness. Get this: his party was in the afternoon (2-4 pm) and we decided he would open his gifts from family after dinner. Well, after getting gifts at the afternoon party, he assumed that was it, and that he wouldn't be getting anything else, and he didn't make a peep. So when we whipped out the family presents later, he was overjoyed!
The simplicity of the four-year-old birthday is delightful: The children had a whale of a time playing Duck Duck Goose and London Bridge. Both games had some fun pathologies. For instance, at one point in London Bridge Ian decided to run the wrong way, eliciting loud warnings from the parents as he almost crashed into all the other kids. And many kids got so caught up running around in circles during Duck Duck Goose that they neglected to sit down! I think they would have happily run all day. That's the point, right?
Two other activities were planned. First, Susan procured a cardboard castle. She then strewed crayons and markers about and many of the kids spent quite some time coloring it, while others puttered around perusing Sam's toys.
The kids also played a fishing game in which they cast a line behind a corner desk and pulled out little prizes. The prize hysteria grew greater and greater until finally, when they had each had their turns, they swarmed forward, storming the desk. Only calm thinking on the part of Amy and Susan saved me!

Happily, the parents also had a pleasant time. I can only speak for the men. We did the next best thing to vanishing outside for cigars--we sat around talking about electronic gadgets. Both Marvin and Martin showed off their iPhone apps while I looked on enviously.

Thanks to all who sent gifts! And thanks also to Amy not only for her hard work, but for the multitude of great photographs.