I Survived Gavin's Chuck E. Cheese Birthday Party and Lived to Tell About It

Maybe surviving a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese doesn't seem like that big of an accomplishment to you.  It probably doesn't if you're a Mom or Dad who always has destination parties for your kids' birthdays.  I'm using the word "destination" loosely in this context.  I'm one of those Moms who, after 24 birthday parties for my three boys combined, has just now experienced an "away from home" party.  We did have Ethan's 5th birthday party at a park but that was only 2 miles from home and barely counts.  I have included some pictures of our "homemade" parties.

This was Jac's third birthday and 17 days before Ethan made his appearance.    Note my "impressively swollen", read chunky, hand in this picture cutting the cake.

Ethan's first birthday.  He looked like a little old man before we gave him his first haircut.

Here's Ethan digging into his cake.   Knowing him as I do now, he had probably realized the cake was chocolate and was trying to get to the good stuff.

Ethan's 2nd birthday party and one of my favorite birthday moments ever.   He spent most of his time feeding cake to his cousin, Jace, who is eight weeks younger.  Two cute little tow-heads.

Ethan again at his 2nd birthday.  Who is that skinny chick with the long blonde hair?

Jac's 4th birthday at home.  I threw this one in to prove that he really did choose Dora as the theme for his 4th birthday.  Ethan still teases him about this.

Jac's 5th birthday at our subdivision pool.  It was literally a cold day in June and Ethan and Jace were helping themselves to Jac's cake before it was cut.  That's Ethan's little hand on the left.

Ethan's 3rd birthday party in our backyard.  Yes, in case you're wondering, I threw this particular pic in because I am looking fierce here.  Alas, this was the same day I found out I was pregnant with Gavin and the skinniness was replaced by lots of swelling and looking pregnant in unfortunate places for the next nine months. 

Jac's 6th birthday.  I believe that was the year he had a Hot Wheels party.
Backyard, once again.

Jac's 7th birthday.  He was starting his third year with no front teeth.  If you've missed out on that back story then it will just have to wait for another day.  And, yes, I picked this picture because I love my hair here.  I was only 3 months out from giving birth to Gavin so I was also trying to hide my post-pregnancy belly.
(It is my blog, right)?

My Superman, Ethan.  This was his 4th birthday and began the years of dress-up for he and his younger brother.  He wore this Size 4 costume until he was about 7 1/2 and he couldn't fit into it anymore.  I had to ban him from riding his bike with the cape on because of some almost unfortunate accidents, but he said that his powers didn't work as well without the cape.

Gavin's 1st birthday.  I love this picture.  He is 100% full-steam-ahead Gavin all the time.  If you're gonna smile, give it all you've got.

Ethan's 5th birthday at the park.  I know this one is not very good at documenting proof of his party but it's my favorite picture from that night.  This is classic Ethan and reminds me very much of that self-confidence that he gets from both his Mom and Dad.

This was Jac's 11th and Ethan's 8th birthdays.  If you're wondering who that guy is who's singing in the background, it's Toby Mac, and as far as these two boys are concerned there is no other singer.  They chose to go to a Toby Mac/Chris Tomlin concert instead of having a party.  He was singing right beside us and Jac and I both got to shake his hand as he went back to the main stage.

Why this look of elation and spring in the step of this young boy?  Well, you have to look at the next picture to understand.

Gavin's 5th birthday, just celebrated on March 12.  He got a bike for his birthday before heading out to Chuck E. Cheese.

Here I am, surviving the party at Chuck E. Cheese.  If nothing else I'm colorful.  One of the funniest moments was when our party hostess asked me if our friend, Nathan, was the "Party Dad."  She was going to get a drink for him.  I said yes, thinking that he was a Party Dad, not understanding that she meant the Party Dad.  Once I realized what she meant I pointed out the real Party Dad.   Sorry, Nathan, you gotta be the actual Party Dad to get the hostess to bring you your drink.

Here are my two girlfriends/staff pastors' wives at church.  I posted this picture on Facebook and mentioned that I said when Lindy took the pic I told him I wanted one without our swimsuits on.  If you read that on Facebook, you might have been like, "Whaaattt?"

Here's the picture to which I was referring.  They, along with their families and my husband, threw me a super fabulous surprise birthday party a couple years ago at the pool.  It was a blast, and yes, I cropped this picture.  No need to show more than necessary.  Just trust me, we are super hot in our string bikinis.

Here's the smiling birthday boy and this face makes it all worth it.  We were waiting for Chuck E. to make his appearance at this point.  It felt like we were chanting "Chuck E. Cheese!" forever, and that's just a tad bit creepy in my opinion, by the way.  Later, the party hostess explained to me that the official Chuck E. got pulled over on this way to work that day and another employee was taking extra long getting into the costume.  Can our law enforcement not have mercy on a giant mouse whose purpose in life is to bring birthday merriment to the pre-school crowd?  Seriously!!  What is wrong with this world?

The birthday boy wearing his birthday medal and posing with the substitute Chuck E.  Don't tell Gavin.
He may feel like he got short-changed.

What's that face for, you ask?  Why, that's a 5-year-old who's all souped up on pizza, soda, games, and loud music and is getting ready to dive into his cake.

Gavin, hugging his Spiderman costume from Uncle Rob, Aunt Lisa, and Alex.  Spiderman was climbing the walls, or really, the banister later that day at home.

We closed out the night at Joe's Crab Shack where we celebrated Gavin's, Aunt Lisa's, and Alex's birthday.  Hopefully, Queen Lisa, who's waving to all of her loyal subjects in this picture, won't get mad at me for including this one.  She and Princess Alex were beautiful, don't you think?

So, that's the short and long of how I survived our first kid destination party.  I did it drug and alcohol-free.  No Xanax or mixed drinks here.  Just some retail therapy after the party.  It actually wasn't all that therapeutic.  I only bought a cute pair of shorts at the Loft.  The best part about not having the party at home is that there is no clean-up.  The downside is that I don't get to be hostess and entertainer to all of our friends and family.  I do love throwing a good party, no matter the occasion.  More parties to come in June.  I'm sure they will be exciting, regardless of the location.

Maybe You've Never Heard This Story That's Been 20 Years in the Making...

Maybe you're the type who doesn't buy the "Love at First Sight" possibility...
Maybe you think you have to start as friends and allow love to grow over time....
Maybe you think you shouldn't have your first kiss before your first official date...  :)
Maybe you don't think that it's possible for a couple to break up, almost marry other people, then reunite  and marry each other five years after you met...
Maybe you think long distance relationships never work out...
Maybe you've never seen a picture of the boy I fell head over heels in love with...

This is Lindy Carnett about 48 hours before we met.  The picture was taken on the way back from an Evangel College Spring Break Missions Trip to Salt Lake City, UT.  It was his senior year and my freshman year.  We met on March 11, 1991 the Monday evening following Spring Break.  I won't bore you with the whole story, but we met in Burgess Hall (my dorm) near the water fountain and were introduced by a mutual friend named Robin.  Honestly, I can still remember when our eyes met.  It's as if something inside me clicked and I knew that this was somehow going to be different.  He was soooo good-looking (and, unfortunately, he was one of those guys who knew it), but I'm not a girl who's only impressed by good looks so I did what came naturally to me and I made fun of his name.  I was immediately in love and the serial dating I had been doing my freshman year came to a screeching halt.  I found out on Wednesday that Lindy's suitemate was in my Anatomy class so I had someone close by to give me the intel on him.  Later than night, he happened to be in the lobby of my dorm when my friend and I were leaving to go to church.  Lindy decided he was going to flip a coin to determine whether he would go with us.  (I guess I must have invited him).  He kept flipping the coin over and over and eventually I stopped him and said, "If you really want to go, you'll go."  He went.  I found out that night that he played the drums and ended up playing because the drummer wasn't there.  One more thing to love because I was already a sucker for drummers.  The three of us went to the airport to watch planes land and then to Village Inn for hot chocolate.  By the time we got back to my dorm, we had our first kiss after my friend got out of the car.  Tacky, I know, but we were college students.  The next day he called me to ask me out for Friday night and I told him that he hadn't given me much notice.  I said to him that I usually didn't accept dates from guys who wait until the day before to ask.  Not very respectful, if you ask me.  But, I told him I would make an exception for him since we had only met three days before. 

Our first official date was on March 15 and we went to see "Dances with Wolves" and out to dinner at the Bombay Bicycle Club.  This was a double date with his cousin, Daniel.  Daniel eventually ended up with a different girl in the long run.  I took Lindy home to meet my parents the next day and my Mom's exact words--no lie--were, "Robin, that boy is too good-looking.  He's going to be trouble."  She thought, and many others did too, that Lindy looked like Tom Cruise.  Back in the day before Tom Cruise went loo loo.  You know, the "Risky Business" Tom Cruise.  That one. 

The next evening, St. Patrick's Day, I met Lindy's grandmother--Nana--and he introduced me as his "ride."  Nice.  He didn't have a car at the time so I was his ride, but still, give the girl a little respect, will ya?  Nana put me through the paces even though I was just Lindy's ride and asked me the questions that were important to her. 

1)  How much do you weigh?
2)  How tall are you?

Believe it or not, I told her.  She seemed to be satisfied and she liked that I had on lipstick.  (Some things never change no matter how many years go by).

So began our relationship and from that moment forward we were pretty much together whenever possible until graduation.  He even rode his bike to the mall to hang out at Hot Sams pretzel place where I worked.  I loaded him and his bike in the back of my car and drove us back to campus.  We "studied" in the library--this was really more about passing each other notes.  I met the rest of his family around Easter and he told them I was a sophomore and, technically, that was correct because I had clepped out of some classes and had enough credits to be a sophomore.  But, no matter how you sliced it I was still three years out from getting my nursing degree.  It bothered him quite a bit that I was 18 and he was the ripe old age of 21.  I loved his family from the start, especially because I had never had any sisters.

 

After graduation, we were pretty much long-distance until the next March when we broke up.  That's right.  We broke up on March 14 and it was not pretty.  I was devestated because I really felt that God had told me two months earlier that Lindy was the man I would marry.  There have only been a couple times in my life--and God seems to save it for me when it's a life-altering decision--that I have known without a doubt His will for me.  When we broke up it made me really question whether I could trust what I felt God had told me.  Later on that summer my brother and I were coming home from the movie together and I was talking to God about the situation again since I just knew He had said Lindy was the one.  God told me to be patient.  He was working everything out.  Well, patience isn't necessarily my strong suit.  I practiced "patience" by getting into another relationship and almost getting engaged.  He had the ring and then we broke up.  That relationship was the easiest thing in the world to get over.  All it took was an entire evening of me crying on the phone to my brother, my Mom, and then my Dad.  By the time I woke up the next morning I was over it.  I guess that was a clue at the time that the other guy wasn't the right one.  At the same time, unbeknownst to me, Lindy was engaged to be married to another girl until that relationship was broken off.

I went on to date other guys but never could get Lindy out of my heart, try as I might.  When I would visit Springfield I would invariably run into a family member of his or a friend.  Over two years had gone by since Lindy and I had spoken.  As I mentioned earlier, things did not end well and there was never really any closure to our relationship.  From September 1994 to January 1995 I kept feeling like I needed to write Lindy a letter to just wish him well and say there were no hard feelings.  (This was in the day before e-mail, text messaging, etc.)  I finally wrote to him and he wrote me right back.  We wrote a couple more times and then he started calling.  It was all very friendly.  I was living in Tulsa and he was in St. Charles.  By the time May 1995 rolled around we had been getting to know each other again for about four months.  We had broached the subject of him coming to visit me, but hadn't set anything in stone.  The day before Mother's Day Lindy was in a bad motorcycle accident and when his Mom came to the hospital he told her to call Robin.  She said, "Robin who?"  She had not a clue that we had been talking for four months.  I should back up and say that about two weeks earlier my Mom was visiting me in Tulsa and we were driving around looking at houses for me to buy.  (There I go being patient again).  She finally said, "Robin, there is something you're not telling me."  Mothers of daughters just know, I guess.  I tried to deny it, but she insisted I was keeping something from her.  I finally gave in and said, "I've been talking to someone."  She immediately replied, "Lindy."  I was like, "How on earth did you guess that???"  His name had not mentioned, in vain or otherwise, in over two years.  Mom said, "Oh, Robin.  Your Dad and I always thought you were too hard on him anyway."  Go figure.  Anyway, back to the motorcycle accident.  Debi ended up calling me to let me know and I flew up to see him in the hospital.  It was during the flood of 1995 and I learned that 17-year-old Ronnin was a scary driver in the rain.  Yikes.  She brought me from the airport to the hospital and Lindy said when I walked in the room he knew we were going to get married.  He's also said it might have been the Demerol but he thought I looked like an angel.  There must have been a light in the hallway shining around my long blonde spiral-permed curly hair.  I was his curly-haired girl and he was going to marry me.

If you haven't guessed by now, Lindy and I pretty much broke all the hard and fast rules that people have come to depend on when it comes to dating and relationships.  That two-day visit to St. Louis turned into us talking every day on the phone.  We would talk for hours into the night and I learned that you know you've been up late when you can still taste your toothpaste from the night before when you wake up at 4:45 a.m. to go to work.  Being long distance during this time was probably the best thing that could have happened to our relationship.  At this point it was becoming serious and we knew it was going to last.  He came to visit and brought his friend, Matt.  They decided on a whim to come visit me and they drove all night to arrive not long after I had gone to work.  He came to visit another time with Matt and another friend.  The deal that time was that I was required to have dates lined up for his friends.  We had a good time.  During those visits Lindy was still on crutches.  He had graduated from wheelchair to walker to crutches and had a heart-shaped skin graft on his left shin.  For the boy who was so sure of his good looks, having a bum knee brought about a little humility.  He was still my Lindy, though, just wiser and more mature than the boy I first laid eyes on. 

I also came to visit him in St. Charles a few times and when I visited in October 1995 I knew it was going to be so that he could propose.  I can still see myself looking at my left ring finger as he drove to 94th Aerosquadron Restaurant and knowing that after that night it would never be bare again.  He did propose and then I agreed to move to St. Charles.  About three weeks later, Lindy arrived with Matt, Dave, and Jenn to help me move.  We didn't know it then but Jenn was to be Matt's forever love and we are so blessed to still be close friends with them.  We had set the date for March 16, 1996 because that weekend was going to be five years from our first date.

God was right, as He always is, and I married my "love at first sight" on March 16--five years from the weekend of our first date. 


Every March since then has been a month of celebration because that is the month of spring when our love first bloomed.  Ten years after we married I gave birth to our third son, Gavin.  He was due on March 8 and I had resigned myself to being overdue.  I was hoping that he would be born on March 11 to commemorate the day we met but he missed it by 25 minutes and he was born on March 12 at 12:25 a.m.  He was the best ever anniversary gift when we brought him home from the hospital on our 10th anniversary. 

Now, it's March again and this time it's 20 years since we met and 15 years since we married.  Lindy promised me that life with him would not be boring and he's definitely kept that vow.  He always keeps me guessing, he is the funniest person I know, he's steady and dependable, he still maintains his "gonna be trouble" good looks, and he "gets" me when no one else does.  He's my best friend and the keeper of my secrets.  He's my every day testimony of what kind of spouse you can have if you trust God and put your life in His hands.  I probably would have saved myself a little bit of heartache if I had just held on to what God told me in January 1992.  It's hard to believe that we have this many years in our love story and I can't wait to see all that is waiting for us around the next corner.  It won't be predictable if Lindy has anything to do with it.  One more reason why he's my true love and why I'd go through it all over again if it means I get to spend the rest of my life being his wife.  Maybe we broke all the rules, but I wouldn't have it any other way.