5 and a surprise!

Well we celebrated Will's birthday in grand style this year. I can't believe he turned 5. All of a sudden he seems so grown up! And he got a special treat this year, as Keith returned from his summer deployment on Will's birthday (he left on mine, returned on Will's...probably can't do that twice!). I kept it a secret from the boys so they wouldn't be disappointed if/when it changed. Keith's detachment was actually supposed to come back on August 10th but they got here a few days early. Yippee! I got Will up, wished him a happy birthday and told him that Dad was coming home that day too. He just kind of stood there and didn't say anything. I think he was processing the info. Finally I got an excited "Really?!" and then the craziness began.

We got to the squadron in time to watch the 2 CODs fly in and greet dad. We brought our homemade "Aloha Det 3" sign and the boys wore Hawaiian shirts in honor of Det 3's incredibly rough summer in Hawaii (ahem!) Both boys were SO excited to see their dad. Even though this was a short deployment, 2 months is a long time to little kids. I joked how if this trip had been before kids, I probably wouldn't have even taken the day off of work for a 2 monther. :) My how things have changed.

We went home for birthday cake and presents. Will got lots of good stuff, including plenty of Star Wars gifts. That's his current favorite and we'll be having a Lego Star Wars bowling party at the end of the month. On his actual birthday, we ate dinner with Aunt Jill and Uncle Matt at the Corvette Diner. We all had milk shakes and fries and played games in the arcade before calling it a day. I'd say it was a pretty eventful 5th birthday.

Now school is just around the corner! Will goes in for Kindergarten testing this week and starts school next week already. Time flies. I was/am still a tad unsure about putting him in Kindergarten but he certainly seems ready. We'll see what the testing say this week. I have a feeling he'll be joining his new Kindergarten class on the 23rd.