A different kind of inauguration celebration

A different kind of inauguration celebration is taking place today. Daniel turned 10 yesterday. He had a great day of celebration and we were able to spend it all with him because there was no school for the boys and a holiday for the University. The University holiday was for MLK but for Dan’s school it was “teacher prep” day. This turned out well for us. We decided to throw him a birthday party which we haven’t done for a few years. I will say more on the party in a minute. Since living in Michigan Dan has taken one of his favorite special treats to school to share with his classmates for his birthday. He claims to have a reputation for bringing the BIG raised glazed doughnuts from a local bakery. I must admit they have the best doughnuts around and one in particular is better than any Krispy Kreme I have ever had! These are not the size of a standard grocery store or Wal-Mart doughnut. They truly are LARGE. When we realized he would have to choose an alternate day instead of his birthday to take his treat he quickly chose today knowing it is Inauguration Day. So in light of that he quickly determined that the large “O” doughnuts were very fitting this year. They have now been named DoughBamas. Dan reports that they did in fact get to watch at school and he thought it was very exciting. Now nothing to do with the birthday but he also thinks it’s cool that the person chosen to deliver the religious message before the inauguration picked a scripture from DANIEL to base his thoughts as well as ended his talk with something the guys 14 year old son would say “May the force be with you!” Dan being a Star Wars nut was thrilled.

As for the birthday festivities we were given an interesting challenge. We gave Daniel some opportunity to request what he would enjoy. He is very into a new book series called 39 Clues. He is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the 2^nd book (update, arrived today at school with the Scholastic order!) so we can all plow through it and do more sleuthing (he is now in chapter 4). No adult should read it thinking they are going to find an intriguing literary masterpiece. One should keep in mind it was written for someone in the age range of 8 – 14. It is a fun read and promotes interesting conversation with Dan. We all look forward to the many more in the series. The books are full of adventure, suspense, and clue finding but also teach history, geography among many other worthy things. Therefore Daniel wanted a “39 Clues” birthday. We quickly determined that having party requiring attendees to find 39 clues might take a LOT of planning we opted for 10, his age and the number of books in the 39 Clues series.

The party began with the invitation itself. The house was a crime scene and they were invited to investigate to find the clues leading to missing birthday items. They went crazy and appeared to have a good time. Some clues were easier than others. For a full picture view of the craziness check out the online photo album (link on right of this page). If you need the password let me know. We celebrated more with friends last night. Dan was generously given some gift cards and money from family living far away and of course is thinking of ways to spend it immediately. It was a memorable few days for Dan. It is hard to believe he is 10.