Braden's 5th Birthday

This past Friday (the 23rd) we had a little family birthday party for Braden; his birthday party with his friends is this upcoming Saturday. We gave Braden the choice between going out to eat or cooking hamburgers at home and having a Maseda Family Movie Madness Night; he chose staying at home, so we grilled out hamburgers, had ranch potatoes, fruit, and pasta salad. Braden also decided he wanted to eat outside, and we made sure that he ate his birthday dinner on one of the special plates we have for such an occasion (actually it is a lunch tray; Rich's family had a lunch tray that you got to eat on if you had something special happen: award, birthday, good grades, etc., so we are continuing the tradition). Well, after dinner, Rich presented him with his present, a baseball and a baseball glove. I couldn't believe his reaction; he LOVED it! I guess Rich knows what he is doing! Braden of course wanted to try out his new present, and Rich was more than ready to oblige. They started out throwing underhanded and worked their way up; I was impressed! Braden did a good job at catching and throwing. Rich's advice to get him to throw better and higher: "Try to throw it at my head." I quickly let Braden know that the only time he was to do that was with his daddy, because he could catch it. Well, after their game of catch, we headed to McDonald's for milkshakes; we then rode to see Braden's new school as we sipped away and all 3 children fell asleep (so much for the movie, but HELLO to time to talk to Rich; we drove around a little longer to take full advantage of our semi-time alone). Even though Braden didn't get to watch his movie, I think it is safe to say that he enjoyed being the birthday boy!

Here is a video of the birthday boy and his daddy playing catch; I just wish I would have taken more video later, when Braden got braver and backed up more. I also missed a really good catch he made, Oh well, maybe next time.

I of course also took pictures of the night. Rich says that he can rest assured that our children's lives are going to be very well documented. I say, that's right, and they will thank me for it. :) They will also thank me that I shared it with the world on our blog, okay maybe they won't thank me for that part.