We celebrated Beau’s birthday this past week and it was especially significant for one big reason: It was the first year we threw him a “friend” birthday party. Prior to turning 6, we only had private family birthday celebrations for Beau.

But even though we threw him the big birthday bash with his friends, we still gave him the private celebration that has been routine in previous years. So let me start there…

Beau’s birthday this year fell on a Thursday. After we all arrived home from work and school, we allowed him to open his gifts from us and his grandparents. Once everything was opened, we gave him the option of choosing where he wanted to go to dinner.

Sloan watches Beau open up his presents on the evening of his birthday.

Sid and Sloan secretly hoped he would choose Outback, Red Robin, or maybe Olive Garden. His choice?

Zip’s.

For those not from the Inland Northwest, Zip’s is your typical local fast food burger joint. Beau got his birthday dinner wish as we feasted on cheeseburgers, corn dogs, fries, and onion rings.

Beau enjoys a corn dog at Zip’s during his birthday dinner.

We then came home for cake. Instead of our traditional Rosauers cake, Sidney made a yellow cake with homemade rainbow chip frosting. It was chef’s kiss.

Beau with the birthday cake his mom made him to celebrate his 6th birthday. The rainbow chip frosting was superb.

After asking us about his “friend” party incessantly for the past two weeks, Beau’s day in the sun came this past Saturday. We pulled up to the Spokane Valley Mall a little prior to 2 p.m. and went to the top level where We Play, an indoor playground, is located. When we walked in, everything in our party area was already set. This was made possible thanks to the staff allowing us to drop off our themed table cloths/plates/silverware/etc. in the morning for them to place before we arrived in the afternoon.

Oh yes, the theme. Beau chose soccer. He wore his Ronaldo uniform—complete with “gold” chain—to his party. We had a good laugh when his friend, Killian, showed up wearing a Messi jersey.

Beau dressed in his Ronaldo uniform for his party. This is him with his friend, Grant. While Grant wore a Seahawks jersey, his other friend, Killian, showed up in a Messi jersey.

Speaking of his friends, Beau invited his whole class. His cousins also attended. Everyone had a fantastic time exerting all their energy inside the play structure. We Play made everything so easy. While the kids played, the staff made sure the pizza arrived on time (they contract with a local pizzeria) and that we had everything we possibly needed to stage a fun birthday party.

About 45 minutes into the party, the We Play staff made an announcement for Beau’s party to come eat. Beau and his friends maybe spent two minutes gobbling their pizza before they sprinted back to the play structure. About 30 minutes later the staff made another announcement for the children to return to the table for cake. This time around they devoted a little more time to letting their food digest as I suspected a little fatigue setting in after 90 minutes of playing hard.

Beau and his birthday guests pose for a photo right before cake in the We Play party space. We Play is an indoor playground located inside the Spokane Valley Mall.

As Beau’s crew made one final run to the play structure, we started to pick things up and pack away the presents. Like we did when Sloan had her birthday at Chuck E. Cheese, we opted for Beau to open his presents at home.

The two-hour party quickly came to an end and after distributing the party favor bags to all the guests, we thanked the We Play staff and headed out. As you can imagine, Beau was eager to get home and open his gifts.

Beau poses for a photo with his mom and birthday cake. Thanks to We Play (Spokane Valley) for helping us host such a fun birthday party.

Thanks to everyone who made Beau’s birthday such a success from his relatives to his classmates to the parents of his classmates to the staff at We Play. I didn’t mention it much when recounting the party experience, but it was such a pleasure to visit with the parents in Beau’s class—we are blessed to be part of the St. Mary Catholic School community.

Next year will be tough to beat when it comes to Beau’s 7th birthday party. But there is no time to think about that now because there is a more pressing concern…Sloan’s birthday is next month 🤭. Don’t Blink.