"Gimmee a Piece of the Lake..."

How can it be that my first born is 8 years old tomorrow?  

He is so long, lean... 

and mouthy...  

The last days of my pregnancy I looked like the Sta-Puff Marshmallow man.  

At night I soaked my swollen, malformed feet in buckets of ice water.  Tom would grasp my leg and his hand print would stay...  Talk about cankles!  

Then, 19 hours after a midnight run to the hospital, my little boy entered the world and the rest is history.  Here he is (3 1/2), holding Kate as a newborn.  Can't seem to find his newborn shots tonight.....

A mom can relish the memories now and then, can't we?


Anyway.....

To celebrate his 8th, we headed over to a local Chicago treasure, Novelty Games.  It is the putt-putt golf destination, with batting cages and video games thrown in.  

Jack and 7 of his buddies played 18 holes with Tom supervising and keeping the high sticking in check.  

Kate and I catered the event via the adjacent Bunny Hutch....the local food shack.  The  old guy cook was a whirling dervish, making multitudes of burgers and dogs on the fly (all tasty, mind you).  I heard that he normally works with an oxygen tank in tow, even during smoke breaks in the parking lot.  A large explosion in the Bunny Hutch cannot be out of the question, one has to think.  The rest of the ice cream duties, cashiering and general grunt work was being performed by a boy who looked no older than 12.  He was a serious and hardworking lad.  

Once the boys emerged from the course, victorious, they pounced on the hot food like jackals.  

Charlie especially likes mustard!  

Once the food was devoured they scampered to the game room, asking for quarters in rapidfire motion.  

I retrieved the cake from the Bunny Hutch fridge.  

It was my labor of love from yesterday, baked without dairy for Jack.  

Thankfully, it tasted great and Jack loved it.  All the boys wanted a piece of the cake that was the "water hazard" or lake...

Gone is the little boy baby pudge and the simple thoughts and questions. 

I have a big boy now......sigh.....