Double Digits - Happy Birthday Collin!

Believe it or not, that little guy is not so little anymore.  It seems like just yesterday that I was writing a post about him turning five - a whole hand - and now he has doubled that.  Time flies.  

Collin is currently Minecraft OBSESSED, so I set up this little display for him to find this morning. I know absolutely nothing about Minecraft, so I was a little nervous about the whole thing, but he really liked it.

 He was VERY excited to open his presents this morning.

 The first package was just for fun, a box of items celebrating double digits.  If I had really thought it through, I would have doubled everything in the box!

 His real gift was the Lego Mindstorms ev3 robot.

Collin and Reagan had a tennis lesson this morning, and then we went out for breakfast at Lina's Place (Collin's choice).  Dad wasn't able to leave work, so it was Collin, Tyler, Reagan, Kate, Grandma Susan, and me.

Collin started a tradition (maybe just last year; I'm not certain) of ordering one bacon slice for each year of his life on his birthday. That means he had ten strips of bacon.  YIKES!

At the end of breakfast, the staff came over to sing Happy Birthday and present Collin with a piece of chocolate cake!  It wasn't even 10:00!  Collin actually saved most of it for later in the day.

We had to run a few errands, and Collin told anyone who would listen that today is his birthday.
Most people would wish him a happy birthday, ask him how old he is now, and then remark about him reaching double digits.  Collin thought it was funny that most people made the double digits remark.

As soon as we returned home, Collin quickly assembled the ev3, and then spent some time hanging out with his neighborhood friends!

He was super excited to come home to a present from Auntie Karen and Uncle Mark!

I usually make a birthday dinner of choice, but Collin LOVES eating out, so we all went to Agoro's with Great Grandpa, Great Grandma, Grandpa Jim, Grandma Susan, and Auntie Di.  Collin's birthday dinner was chicken fingers and french fries (his favorite meal).  After dinner, we had Coldstone Creamery chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream cake at Grandma Susan's house.

The Happy Birthday video (you have to love the interaction between Collin and Reagan):

I wish I could say that Collin was thrilled to receive piles of new clothes, but I would be lying.  He did get some really nice clothes (lots of them) from Grandma and Grandpa, but all of his excitement was directed toward Pokemon cards, money, and Legos!

A few things I love about Collin:

• his freckles!  He doesn't like them, but I love the way they are sprinkled across his nose.
• his love of learning.  I hope he never loses his quest for knowledge.
• his ability to assemble Lego kits in the blink of an eye.  I am always amazed!
• his passion for whatever interests him most at the time.  From a very young age, he has latched on to something and thrown his whole self into that - Buzz Lightyear, Transformers, superheroes, Legos (and specific themes within Lego, like Ninjago), Super Mario, and Minecraft are just a few of his passions over the years.
• his serious personality.  I was a serious kid too.  It's not always easy because the serious child isn't usually the funny one or the playful one; I totally understand.  The world needs serious people!

Overall, I think Collin had a great day!
Happy Birthday, Collin!  I love you with all of my heart.