Six Complete Orbits

I'm not going to post very many details of the event because I'm going to leave that to Samuel's parents. I'm sure they'll do an exemplerary job of describing the Balloon Birthday Party - Samuel's celebration of having come to this point in the earth's orbit for the sixth time. I'll just say that we had a good time. It was fun to see Samuel's friends and to see him interact so maturely with them. He has a very strong sense of fair play and a great desire to see everyone included. At my age, in spite of my relative fitness, I still wonder at the energy level of these small people. The thing that amazes me is the idea that most of the food they consume has to be being used to grow their bodies. They are all "growin' like weeds." Yet, though the calories they consume are going for bodily growth, they still have endless amounts of energy - more than is actually good for their own safety. Go figger!!

Another blessing of these occasions is the rarer-than-formerly-true opportunity to visit with the other Parks - Jerry, Ann and Kristi. When David and Shelley lived here, in Fort Worth, and were visited by the Parks it often resulted in our getting to see them as well. But now the Parks can visit them in College Station and we don't get to see them. So the occasion has to be big enough to get us all at David and Shelley's at the same time in order for us to see them. And this being such a big enough occasion - the completion of six orbits, we got to see them. A recent example of another such big event is Grand Parents Day at Samuel's school.

We all pitched in on the party decorating. Then, after the party was over and the kids retrieved by their parents, Samuel opened his presents from we family members. Then we all went out to eat together. It's fun to be related to people you like.