Nifty Number Nine

We have a tradition in our family, and I don't exactly know why it is a tradition. We do something really BIG for our kids on their 9th birthday.

It all started when we surprised Brandon when he turned nine. He was feeling homesick for Redding and was missing his best friend Austin. We drove to Colorado Springs for the day and went to the Air Force Academy. We toured the area and saw several of the airplanes. Then I drove him to the airport and told him that there were some real jets at the airport that we could go see before we headed home. We drove down the Pick-Up lane when all of a sudden he saw his best friend Austin standing there. We caught their reaction on video.

After that, it still wasn't a tradition. Then, as Andrew's 9th birthday approached, I thought it would be fun to do something special for him. At the time he was a Lego fanatic as well as a train lover. Nathan came home early the day before his birthday and they took Amtrak to California where they spent two days at Lego Land. We also caught his reaction on video.

After that, it became a tradition. Of course, Connor persistently asked us what we were doing for his 9th birthday. We told him it was a surprise and the only hint we gave was that he would be traveling, and that we wouldn't do the same thing twice. I originally wanted to take Connor to Sea World and let him swim with dolphins, since he is such a little fish. Then I priced the trip and concluded that while he would love it, our finances wouldn't be able to support that extravagance.

We finally settled on something that would incorporate his love for speed, adventure, and water: Elitches in Denver. It is a combination amusement park and water park. We woke him up early the morning of his birthday, handed him an MP3 player and told him where I was taking him. Then we hit the road and arrived at the Park when it opened.

The first day we only did the rides, and I splurged and bought the VIP passes. This allowed us to bypass the 90 minute wait signs on some of the rides and go directly to the front of the lines. I'm sure that some people hated us when they saw us walk up and then go on the next ride, but it was most assuredly worth every penny.

Unfortunately, the second ride we went on shook us around more than we expected and Connor's glasses flew off on the last corkscrew. It took him a little while to recover, and I worried that he wouldn't go on any more roller coasters. We found a ride similar to Buzz Lightyear at Disneyland that was called the Ghost Blasters. We went on it 9 times in a row. I'm sure the people in that line really hated us. I am happy to say that I finally achieved the rank of Master Blaster.

After that break Connor worked back up his nerve and we went on every single roller coaster in the park. Some more than once. At the end of the day, Connor wanted to go on one more ride. I really wanted to go with him, but I knew that if I set my foot on any more rides that day, my lunch would end up on the ground. He was pretty understanding, and we headed to our hotel.

He ate candy, chips and crackers for his birthday dinner, and I found that I had no appetite and skipped dinner. The next morning we hit the park early, and went on every water slide in the park. I must say that this was my favorite day. We timed it well, because it was much hotter than the previous day.

Late in the afternoon, when we were tired, we used the GPS to find a movie theater and watched Harry Potter 7 part 2 for the second time in XD. To our delight there was a sushi bar across the street, and we had a fabulous dinner. There was a man sitting next to us at the bar who was openly gaping at Connor and kept commenting that his kids would never touch sushi. Connor LOVED it!

We headed back to the park and went on our favorite rides in the evening. There was a parade and firework show that night that we enjoyed and then we once again crashed at our hotel. The next morning we went on a mix of rides and slides. When things got too crowded we headed for home.

We had a wonderful time and made some great memories. I think that the sweetest part of the trip was hearing him start to talk to his brothers and then remember that they weren't there. He wanted to share his excitement with them. He called home 5 or 6 times and wanted them to know everything he was doing and hear everything they were doing.

Now that we have this established tradition I have found several good aspects of it. Nine is the end of the single digits and in some ways the end of the magical part of childhood. At the same time, they are old enough to appreciate and remember their experience. It is not a very special birthday, so we have found a way to make it special and build a lasting memory.