{"id":8537,"date":"2020-05-29T16:02:18","date_gmt":"2020-05-29T16:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eaumaison.us\/?p=8537"},"modified":"2020-05-29T16:52:58","modified_gmt":"2020-05-29T16:52:58","slug":"happy-10th-birthday-jack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eaumaison.us\/index.php\/2020\/05\/29\/happy-10th-birthday-jack\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy 10th Birthday, Jack!"},"content":{"rendered":"

We had a very fun day at home for Jack yesterday.\u00a0 He was all smiles all day.<\/p>\n

We’re still in love with Animal Crossing, so I took dressed up some of his presents to look like the ones flying over the island in game.\u00a0 He even got items similar to the game – bells (cash), clothes, iron ore (rock collection), and house items (magic foam balls and a clock).\u00a0 After learning that the star shapes in the game are based on Japanese star candy, Ben ordered some samples and we scattered them around the gifts.<\/p>\n

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In the actual game, he was happy to have all the NPCs celebrate, a special visit from KK the music dog, and virtual gifts from his aunts and uncle.\u00a0 I think those presents meant almost as much to him as the real presents!\u00a0 Maybe not \ud83d\ude09\u00a0<\/p>\n

I think it’s safe to say that his favorite part was having ONE friend come over to play.\u00a0 It seemed like a low risk-high reward proposition.\u00a0 Jack was THRILLED to see his friend after months apart.\u00a0 They had McDonald’s, look at LEGOs and rocks, and played video games for a couple hours.<\/p>\n

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Amanda came over to wish him well too.\u00a0 She was a bit overshadowed by the friend, but I had a GREAT time catching up and talking to another adult in person.<\/p>\n

I had made a chocolate-peanut butter cake to celebrate.\u00a0 Jack pointed out that he probably shouldn’t blow all over it to extinguish the candles.\u00a0 Good thinking.\u00a0 I came up with a quick solution – compressed air!\u00a0 It actually worked really well.<\/p>\n

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Jack had proposed we start reading the 6th Harry Potter book on his birthday.\u00a0 We usually start them in the fall when school starts.\u00a0 But he argued that since he is FINALLY 10 years old, like Harry in the 1st book, and the books usually start close to his birthday, that we should do the same.\u00a0 Whatever \ud83d\ude42 The impressive part is that he decided to re-read the ENTIRE SERIES so far.\u00a0 He started May 5th and finished May 26.\u00a0 He read 5 thick books in a few weeks.\u00a0 So nuts.\u00a0 We used to read-aloud but it took forever to do that with the last book, and I want to save my voice to read aloud with Sam.\u00a0 So we are reading the 6th HP book to ourselves.\u00a0 I made him promise to keep paced me with, each stopping at the end of a chapter to discuss before moving on.\u00a0 That way he won’t rush through, and we’ll still feel like we are reading together.<\/p>\n

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Jack asked to be allowed to stay up until 9pm. Sure dude \ud83d\ude42 He seemed to think it was a huge deal and kept saying how he’s never been up this late.\u00a0 We reminded him that he stays up all the time when we travel, but he felt like that didn’t count since Sam was with him.\u00a0 He spent his time watching Zach King magic videos on youtube.<\/p>\n

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Jack has been merrily building his Harry Potter LEGO sets and practicing his sleight of hand.\u00a0 Here’s a video of his first routine:<\/p>\n