Tikkabik

Bob turns eight today. It's a fun age. I think that James was more excited about Bob's birthday than Bob was -- from the second I got up, James was asking about Bob's presents.

Bob got this really cool Spider-Man folder from my aunt and uncle, and a savings bond from his great-grandmother. From us, he got a couple of video games he'd wanted, a board game of one of his favorite book series (A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket) and the coup de grace -- a remote controlled robot toy that's voice activated. All told, he seems pleased with the stuff -- particularly a Game Link cable that will let his sister and him play with each other via their Game Boy Advances.

Our tradition is that the birthday person gets whatever they want for dinner, and Bob has chosen Friendly's, which is fine. That also means ice cream cake for dessert, which makes Bonnie happy.