Dak is 5!

Our big 5 year old. I mean, our 5 year old. Had a hoot of a birthday; got himself a new bike. He was a great sport when his Christmas bike 18 months ago looked unsettlingly similar to what a polished up version of Payte's old bike might have looked like. This one was his own, brand spankin new.

Here's a shot that the kids call "Dak's floating head". They think it looks like his head fell off and was floating around in the water.

Grandma Reynolds sent Dak some workout stuff, since he is quite a muscle man and was very much into her headband when were in Washington this summer.

Dak's birthday cake. I'd tell the story about how this thing was made, but suffice it to say that about 1/3 of the cake was left by the time I finished carving, fixing, recarving, refrosting, etc. It was a nightmare, but Dak was pleased with the outcome nonetheless.

While I struggled mightily to salvage the disaster I had created, Kat found great humor in my repeated failures so she thought to take a picture or two. You'll see in the picture a large bowl, full of failed cuttings, frosting, cake chunks, etc. Yes, we threw out more than actually survived on the cake. Don't be deceived by the smile - that's after the absurdity of my repeated messes and the lateness of the hour left me with no other reaction but to laugh. Trust me, it was preceeded by plenty of frustrated groans and growls.