Number 9

KING FOR A DAY: "I'm 9 now," were the first words out of CJ's mouth this morning, a couple minutes after 6 a.m.

"Yes, you are," I confirmed.

Like any other kid his age, CJ has been looking forward to today for a looong time. Like 364 days. ;-)

We go to Burger King twice a year. Today was one of those two days. The reason we go is because at some point a long time ago, I must have signed them up for the BK Kids Club and now they email me a coupon for a a free kid's meal on each of the kids' birthdays.

For the big b-day night out, we went to Another Castle - a video game store and arcade in Edmonds. There CJ (with some help from Annabelle as a vacuum wielding Marge) actually BEAT the Simpsons arcade game.

A pretty neat feat, and one that he'll remember forever, for sure. I've never been around to see the credits roll on an arcade game before.

After the arcade, we had a nice dinner at the Wing Dome. On the way home, we got held up by the Fremont Bridge, but it was a picturesque delay.

When we got home, it was time for presents! CJ had some interesting items on his birthday wish list. Like this ... a Guy Fawkes mask. That's what every 9-year-old wants, right?

And he was pleased with this Mario toy I found him - even though none of us are quite sure what it is. :-)

He also got the Best Shirt Ever from G&G - a Famicom Disk System tee! And he's already got his Amazon gift card from N&B spent (at least in his head). :) And we can't wait to assemble his 500+ piece space shuttle model from friend Sheila!

Dessert was chocolate cake decorated in a rather odd and very CJ theme. One of CJ (and Annabelle's) latest obsessions is Roblox - "a place where you can build things," he describes. It's a bit like Minecraft, but a little brighter and more social. Per their Web site,  Roblox is the "leading user-generated gaming site that makes players the architects of their own 3D worlds, drawing over one billion page views and 21 million in-game hours each month. The site is ranked #1 in the US for total engagement time within the 8-14 year old segment."

Anyway, he wanted an Outrageous (Roblox) Builders Club logo with an Epic Face on it for his cake. Um, OK. ... Here's the template I was provided (by CeeJ):

And this is what we came up with, many melted marshmallows and drops of food coloring later.

I added CJ & Annabelle's Roblox characters to the side of the cake for a little 'flair' :)

All in all it was a ...