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Here are a few highlights from Royal’s birthday celebration last Saturday.

In the morning Royal opened our gift. Our gift philosophy tends towards longevity and versatility. Royal’s imagination has exploded in the last three months and we wanted to either get him a dollhouse or a cooking station. We ended up with the dollhouse because I thought it’d be more fun for we adults 😜.

Royal and Graham play with Royal's new wooden dollhouse. Royal is putting one of the dolls into the bathtub, and Graham just placed a lego truck on the third floor.

The family get-together was lunch at Texas Roadhouse. I’m reminded yet again that the “traditional” celebrations are not fun. It was good to see the family, but Amie and I would have been much less stressed out if we’d just had everyone over for lunch. I probably won’t succeed every time, but I’m considering boycotting all restaurant gatherings for the next five years.

Royal opens gifts at Texas Roadhouse for his birthday lunch celebration.

The day was bitterly cold so we opted for the indoor dinosaur museum over the outdoor air and space museum. The boys flew through all fifty dinosaur models in fifteen minutes, but they spent a long time in a tiny mirror maze at the end of the tour. It was especially nice that the grandparents were there to share watching them.

Graham, with a worried expression, puts his hand into the mouth of a life-size T-Rex head like it's going to be bitten off.

It was a busy day, with so many out of the ordinary events. The boys and I were all grateful to go hiking the next morning on a familiar trail for a nature reset.

Graham and Royal seated on a fallen log eating snacks in the woods.

Lastly, here’s an amazing, hilarious video of Royal standing on the stove, talking about what, and who, he wants at his birthday.