#MicroblogMondays: And now he is SIX!

If you had told me, 27 years ago this month (and still reeling from heartbreak of pregnancy loss), that 27 years later I would find myself in a party room at a retro video game arcade, surrounded by some 20 excited kids aged 6 and under, plus their young parents -- and even having some fun while doing it --  I never would have believed you, 

And yet there I was, at Little Great-Nephew #1's 6th (!) birthday party on Saturday. Older Nephew discovered the arcade, tucked away in a little strip plaza in a small town not far from where they live, and often takes LGN#1 there for some fun on the weekend (although it's probably a toss up as to who is having MORE fun! lol). 

It was a lot bigger inside than it looked, containing more than 170 (!) arcade games, including some of the ones I remember playing at the campus pub back in the Dark Ages (i.e., the early 1980s, lol), including Galaga, Space Invaders, Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, as well as tabletop games like air hockey and foosball.  It also has a party room and birthday party packages. The kids each got a cup full of tokens they could use to play the games, and some of them spit out tickets they could collect and exchange at the front desk for prizes/trinkets. 

LGN's mom/Older Nephew's Wife was very organized, and the grandmas, Younger Nephew's Wife & I pitched in to help set things up quickly (and take it all down at the end). She had Super Mario/gamer-themed plastic tablecloths, paper plates, napkins, etc., from the dollar store, juice boxes, water, bowls of chips & pretzels. Loot bags that we handed out at the end. And the cake, of course. :) Her mom also made cake pops and we put one in each loot bag. And they ordered a couple of party-sized pizzas to be delivered. 

The kids were so cute -- they were all so excited, but of course LGN#1 was the most excited of all! He hopped out of the car already wearing his party hat! Hugged all the kids (boys & girls) as they arrived and when they left, and hopped up on the platform when everyone was eating and yelled out, "Attention, everyone!  Are you all having a good time??"  And later, "Did everyone like the pizza?"  His grandfather thinks he's going to be a politician, lol. We went back to Older Nephew's house later to open presents and eat more food. Needless to say, we were in bed early that night, and last night too!   

The one thing that gave me pause was when a young mom arrived at the party room with her child in tow.  "Are you {LGN#1]'s grandma?" she enquired. (!)  

My first thought was "Do I LOOK old enough to be someone's grandma?"  And then I realized that to her, I probably did! lol  I just laughed and said, "No, THAT's [LGN#1]'s grandma, over there!"

And now... as you might imagine, in a room full of 20 little kids (plus about as many adults!), especially at this time of year... I feel like I'm getting a sore throat. :p  Not only that -- I grabbed someone else's bottle and took a swig out of it by mistake. Oops (and ewwww...).  (One mom breezily told Older Nephew's Wife that her child had been up half the night, sick to his stomach... but they came anyway.  ONW was NOT impressed.)   

Oh well, what's done is done...!  I handed around the Purell bottle when we got back into the car, lol  And I DID get both my flu and covid shots about two weeks ago (thank goodness!). I will gargle with salt water later. I guess if I'm going to be sick, better now than a month from now...!  

You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here. 

Super Mario/gamer-themed decor & cake.  :)