Focus on Aiden

Aiden's 9th birthday was Tuesday and in keeping with a practice we began when the first grandchild turned 7, we had him over to spend the night with us for his birthday.  So this was his 3rd year to stay with us by himself.

It just so happened that he was also the star of the children's musical at their church, so Andy and I went up to watch the performance.  He did a great job acting and we were very proud of him.  
His dad was also a main player and seemed to enjoy his role as a nutty professor.

Grace and Naomi were also involved in the children's choir, singing and acting.

Afterwards, we all went out to eat together.

I went to work on Monday, but left an hour earlier than usual to drive up to get Aiden and bring him back to our house.  We got home in time to have dinner together.  He had requested chicken noodle soup with my homemade rolls.  It was very hot on Monday - not a good day for soup, but it was delicious anyway.  After dinner, Andy had a deacons' meeting at church, so Aiden and I watched a movie, Disney's Pinnochio.  Then we read Uncle Remus stories till we both started yawning, which was a good indication that it was time for bed.  Aiden slept in the tent that he and Andy set up in the front room.

 On Tuesday morning, we had another birthday request of blueberry pancakes for breakfast, then watched a couple Veggie Tale videos.  Andy and Aiden also went to the church and rode bikes around inside the gym and played soccer for a while.

After lunch, the 3 of us went over to the Battleship New Jersey for a self tour.  I got the idea from a friend who had taken her 9 year old grandson there.  It was a beautiful spring day for a field trip.  We learned a lot of interesting things about the ship, including:
1.  she is the largest and most decorated battleship in our nation.
2.  she was built in 2 years.
3.  she was launched from the Philadelphia shipyard on Dec. 7, 1942, a year to the day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
4.  She participated in nearly all the western Pacific campaigns from January 1944 until the end of WW II.

It is an enormous ship and hard to understand how a ship so huge can stay afloat.  Fully loaded in 1943, it weighed 57,216 tons.

We left from the Camden waterfront to take Aiden back home and stay for the birthday celebration.  We had pizza and salad for dinner, then angel food cake with strawberries.

 He had lots of interested friends to see what presents he got.

 

And Grammy just had to hold Claire as much as she could!  What a sweet baby.

I am very thankful for the gift that Aiden is to our family.  He's quiet, thoughtful and creative - a delightful boy.