-- How do they grow up so fast??!!
It was a raucous party with eight of his school friends, two brothers and two cousins as well as a plethora of adult family and friends. The birthday boy is in the gray Chicago Bears shirt. Mom, Katrina, is wearing a matching shirt. The little girl in the pink dress is Rodney's girlfriend, Violet.
A couple of my adult granddaughters suffer from coulrophobia, so they were forewarned that after lunch there would be entertainment.
Buttons The Clown came to do magic tricks and make balloon animals. She was expecting a kids' party.
She seemed a bit surprised to see so many adults. These little ones are just the right age to appreciate Buttons. A joke or two may have gone over their heads but they were very attentive and participated in the show.
Later Brad would give us the back story on Buttons.... Just before Rodney was born Brad & Katrina opened their first Little Caesar's on Grand in West Des Moines. Buttons (not in costume) was an early customer. Wise businessman Brad would tell all his customers if they had any comments about the pizza, good or bad, to call him and gave out his cell phone number.
The day of Rodney's birth, just when it was decided he would have to be delivered cesarean and Brad was scrubbing in to be in the delivery room, his phone rang. It was Buttons. She had a complaint about her pizza order. Brad explained where he was and what was going on and promised to call her back. She felt badly about the poor timing of her call and said never mind. But Brad did call her back, listened to her complaint, and she's been a friend and loyal customer ever since. When he asked her about performing at the birthday party she said, "I wouldn't miss it!"
The Chicago Bears was the theme of the party. This was the scramble for candy after the breaking of the Bears pinata. The little one in the plaid shirt looking on is another of my great-grandsons; Rodney's sixteen-month-old cousin, Sawyer.
Another of his cousin's, my great-granddaughter, Lily. When she sees a camera she hides her face, so it is hard to get a picture of her.
After Rodney had opened all his other gifts, his Grandpa Doug brought in a present from him. He's holding a treasure map and explaining that it shows where treasure is buried in the Caribbean.
You see, two years ago when my son turned 50, I gave him this little wooden chest filled with gold dollars and silver quarters and half dollars. On one of his subsequent sailing adventures he and Shelly buried the chest on an island in the Caribbean. It is his hope to someday take his grandchildren with him on a sailing trip and have them dig for the buried treasure.
The map was in this carpenter's box which also contained some real tools for Rodney. He was very pleased with this birthday present from his Grandpa.
The hand-crafted, antique carpenter's chest is one Doug bought at an auction and refurbished for his grandson.
Doug may have Rodney believing that the treasure lies buried on an island, but I think the real treasures are right here in this photo.
I enjoyed the party, and the story about how Buttons the clown came to be a family friend.
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