Eleven

Another July, another birthday for Henry.  He celebrated his 11th birthday in style today.  He had a bowling party at the Cache Valley Fun Park.  He and his friends had a fantastic time!

I've never done a party at the Fun Park before and I have to say I see the appeal.  You pay a set fee and just show up.  They take care of the food, drink, cake, napkins, plates, cups and activities.  They are also very flexible.  I ended up with one more kid than I originally planned for (everyone was able to come to the party, which doesn't happy too often) and they were happy to accommodate us.  I added more pizza (9 boys and 1 pizza didn't seem like enough at lunchtime for some reason) and soda and we had extra time at the end of the party and I was able to add an activity with no hassle. 

The best part - no cleanup.  Henry normally has his parties at home and by the time we set up, get everything ready, have the party and get cleaned up, I'm tired.  Not today.  I just watched the boys bowl and eat and act like 11 year old boys.  It was fun and easy.

After the party Henry wanted to spend some of his birthday money, so off to the mall we went.  He bought a new Jazz jersey (shocking, I know) and is contemplating a cover for his iPod Touch.  Jay and I gifted him an older one for his birthday.  The new ones are pushing $200 and while we couldn't see spending that much, he seems to like the one we gave him.  It's used but new to him.  He has downloaded a few apps and games and has a playlist of music that he likes.  He seems to be enjoying it. 

So happy birthday to Henry!  He is firmly in the tween years and getting ready to start middle school in the fall.  He is out of Cub Scouts and on to Boy Scouts.  I don't want to say that he is starting to be interested in girls just yet, but I will say that girls came up in conversation among Henry and his friends waaaaayyyy more than I am used to.  Oh, they still talked about sports and Nerf guns, but they also talked about girls.  And I really don't know what to say about that.