Patrick's 6th Birthday

Patrick turned six at the end of May.  We gave him a few options for parties, but in the end he chose to celebrate by taking his best friend Nathan to the fire station for some special fire training.  We actually traveled on his birthday this year, so we gave him his presents and cake a few days early:

 All he wanted was Legos.  He built them all within the week.

I told Patrick his cake was a surprise.  His only request was that it have 80 tons of icing. It only had about 60 tons.

I think he was a bit underwhelmed by the cake - until we cut into it.

Beacause we were traveling through New Jersey the day after his birthday, we lied and told him we had to stop at a mall along the way and buy him some socks.  We detoured off the turnpike to King of Prussia Mall and led him straight to the Lego Store.  We don't have one here in Pittsburgh, so he had never been before.  He was allowed to pick out one set (he actually ended up with a Lego Superhero set).

The next weekend we convened at the fire station to begin the birthday training. 

 The kids got to use the remote to raise and lower the spotlight on the roof of the truck.

 There were a few rescue demonstrations using the back board, and of course, for fun, the mask.

 Uncle Mike (also a firefighter at the same station) came by to help out with training.

Patrick is still our thoughtful one, more than ever obsessed with building Legos.  He doesn't like to just build and leave them together though- he re-creates ships and vehicles out of the original model.  He prefers his own version.  He is cautious, and can be overly pensive sometimes, to the point where he talks himself out of trying new things.  He was fearful of taking off his training wheels, swimming with his head under the water, and going on the roller coaster.  His brother usually steps up first and then P tries it, maybe out of pride?  He loves school, is still a rule follower, and is an awesome big brother to Kaya (he and Tommy are still arguing too often over Legos).  He is a talker. He loves golf, and has the patience for it.   Everything about him exudes sweetness.  Happy Birthday, Patrick.