Danger & Adventure Around Every Corner: Axel is 5 Years Old!!

Yep, our baby turned FIVE YEARS OLD this month. He is big stuff now and specifically asked for a super, awesome, fun, (boys only) party. I made sure I was still invited and I did make the cut. Phew!

Axel's birthday fell on a Sunday so it was the perfect day to have a party with all his buddies. Mom and Dad had to make a quick house hunting trip to Colorado Springs just days before. We ended up getting stuck in Dallas for 10 hours, on the return ,the day before his birthday. Boy, we were nervous that we would not be back in time for this big day. Luckily, the last possible flight of the day worked out and after a quick trip to the store for birthday goodies, we were home late...but home none-the-less. It was a little stressful but Team Anderson came together. The house was decorated and presents wrapped the night before. In the morning, between a climbing work out, the cake was baked and frosted by Mom while Dad planned out party games and props. It was a crazy morning but so, so worth it. We had a new 5 year old in the house and he was ready to P-A-R-T-Y!!!!

Before the craziness set in, we had a birthday boy who woke up to some cool decorations and a few gifts to kick start a great day.

He just woke up...

walked right in like he owned the place but was very reluctant to dive into the presents. I think he was half afraid that we would not let him open them.

He jumped on the couch and gave us a questioning look??

He quickly realized that there would be no waiting around and dived right in.

Angry Birds blanket. Lucas has a similar Harry Potter one that he wears like a cape. Axel requested an Angry Birds one so he could be like Lucas.

Check out this face, he wasn't exactly sure what it was and I'm quite sure he expected Legos by the sound of the pre-opening gift shake. :)

He quickly ran over and did a shake test on this package. It sounded just like Legos...

Ha! No Legos yet but Lucky Charms was not a disappointment.

One last morning present...could this one be Legos? Shake test was a FAIL because sneaky Mom stuffed the box with paper towels. :)

Is it??? YES!!! Legos!!!!!

It's a great mountain cabin set that converts to three different configurations. He was psyched!

This should keep him busy for a few hours.

He did not waste one minute and got right to work.

While Axel was pre-occupied with Legos, the rest of us ran around like crazy to get ready for the party.

Axel woke up in the morning to tell me about the awesome cake he had a dream about. Oh no! Mom had made plans for a layer cake tower but changed plans last minute to fulfill his Minecraft Cake request. I really had no idea what I was doing but he was happy with the end result.

By the skin of our teeth, we got the cake done and were ready for 10 4-8 year old boys to arrive. Or, so we thought we were ready! :) It was nice to have Dad here to help maintain a little order.

Axel with his buddies waiting for the rest of the crew.

Once everyone arrived, we introduced everyone and explained that this party was all about Axel's Favorite Things. Games, Legos, Minecraft, Harry Potter, friends, friends, friends and of course, LUCAS!...I think Mom and Dad were in the list somewhere too but we won't go into where we fell in rank order.

We started out with some Duck, Duck, Goose. Then we played a fun Dynamite Game which was basically Hot Potato. No photos of that, we were too busy keeping track of who was in and who was out. The boys had a blast.

To calm everyone down, we gave them the task of each building a section of a Lego tower. Each boy made any design they wanted and then the pieces were stacked together to build a tower.

Our goal was to make it taller than them. We succeeded for a few seconds! The entire tower tumbled twice before we decided it was time to switch gears.

It was now time for Pin-the-Wand-on-the-Wizard. I should have planned ahead a littler better. My blindfold was basically a failure but the kids...you know, they didn't care and had the best time.

Axel and Parker...BFF!

Lucas tried to out smart the system using a measuring method.

He forgot to factor in the spinning beforehand. I have to give it to him, I think he was the only one who didn't cheat but sneaking a peek! Great job boys!

After all the fun games, we had a hungry bunch. It was CAKE TIME!!

Here's the crew!!

Happy Birthday Axel!!

Blowing out the candles and making birthday wishes! I'm sure he was wishing for more Legos at this point.

It was time to cut the cake!!

Ice cream and cake....so delicious!

Axel saw a few parents arrived and was a little worried he would not get to open his presents. He took it upon himself to get that started and boy did he have lots of help.

I was quick with the camera and pen to try to document who gave him what. :)

This was an awesome birthday!

As soon as the crowds left, it was Lego time. He scored some more Lego kits from his buddies and set off to build each and everyone before dinner time.

Happy 5 Year Old!

This was his work area for the rest of the afternoon.

We try to spread out the birthday presents on birthdays so it makes the day more fun. You know, you have to wait an entire year for this special day so we had to do it right!! To Axel's surprise, we had a few more gifts from Grandma's & Grandpa's and from Lucas.

There was one gift Axel really wanted but he had not received it. This tower looked promising and with the small square boxes, he was certain he knew what was inside.

Quickly, disappointment appeared on his face. Now, keep in mind, he is unwrapping a gift that he has wanted for months...

a Harry Potter Time Turner. He liked it but you could tell he was a little bummed.

Lucas on the other hand was way more excited about it and showed Axel just how cool it really was. Axel agreed but still had a certain gift in his mind.

Make your own ice cream shakers! Lucas scored one too. Axel was happy but you could still tell he thought his chances at the certain gift were gone. All the other boxes were too big.....hmmmmmm......

Lucas quickly picked up on the fact that this just might be the jack pot of all gifts! Axel was doubtful.

Seconds later his birthday was saved!!!!

I believe he was in complete shock!! I really had no idea he has so much riding on this one gift. I truly did not mean to torture the poor boy all day and in the future, I think he'll get his number one gift first thing in the morning. That way, he'll be able to enjoy the other gifts more fully.