His "Birt - Day"

Kevin got to celebrate his birthday in Oklahoma with friends and family, but nothing went as planned. He was supposed to have a water party at an outdoor water park, but it was raining so we moved it to an indoor rec center pool.

We swung by Walmart to pick up some cupcakes, and their entire bakery department had been ripped out. They were remodeling. They had exactly one box of cupcakes that Kevin liked and two he didn't. So we grabbed the good ones and one of the others and hurried to check out. Kevin tried to help put his cupcakes on the check out counter just as my cell phone rang with Daniel asking me what was taking so long. I was distracted and had my hands full so I wasn't able to catch the cupcakes as Kevin tipped up one end and they all tumbled down making a big mess. The cashier just glared at me.

So I moved our cart out of the way and hurried with Kevin as fast as I could to the back of the store to get the last box of cupcakes when some neanderthal talking on his cell phone slammed into Kevin knocking him backwards. I just gave him the "stink eye" as I rushed off with Kevin again, but I thought the man was saying something rude to me. Turns out he was saying that Kevin had lost a shoe. We had to go back to find his flip flop and then get the cupcakes. Finally we got back to the check out and went through an open line nearby where the cashier proceeded to mock us. Apparently all the cashiers had been laughing about our spilled cupcakes. Gotta love that wonderful customer service.

We had Kevin's cake and presents at McDonald's because when we spoke to the rec center they said that they'd charge us about $50 for a party if we brought presents into the rec center. When we got to the rec center they said the pool was closed because the building is basically a huge metal shed and it conducts electricity into the pool so they automatically shut it down when it rains. Somehow they couldn't tell us that any of the times that we called them to ask questions about their pool hours and birthday rules all day long.

Eventually we ended up back at the Elliott Grandparents' house with 20 kids and 7 adults. It was loud and crazy, but I was so relieved that Kevin never once complained or even acted sad about all the disappointments he was dealt. The next day we let him play with his cousins at a small splash pad in Perkins. I feel guilty that we botched his birthday so badly. We'll have to make it up to him next year.