Topher has turned 9 and it apparently feels a lot like 8. He had a great birthday and really loved partying down with both sides of the family. We tried to keep things low key as much as possible. We were mostly focused on what we would do as a family unit on his actual birthday, more than anything. We had thought up a bunch of ideas, and because his birthday is the day before the 4th of July, and we’re typically at the lake house for the fouth, we tried to find some adventures around the lake house.
The big plan was for a full day’s expedition, and things went off without a hitch!
Phase 1: The Zoo
After the morning’s special doughnut breakfast, we headed out towards the Erie Zoo. Christopher was pretty excited to head to the zoo. Basically, if we ever need to come up with an outing on the fly, anything animal based will be a hit. We are members of the Rochester Zoo so we get a discount on all of the surrounding zoos, and we’ve decided we were going to take full advantages of it. The drive went quick and it was going to be a pretty warm day so we decided to do a lunch pit stop first. We decided we wanted to stop and eat some where that we couldn’t get close to home and Quaker Steak N Lube sounded like a winner to everyone.
“They knew it was my birthday! They got me a race car!” 
There were TVs… So eating and watching are like water and oil.
After lunch we were only 10 minutes from the zoo and someone was getting amped. It was half off with our discount and the place looked really nice. You could see the old school zoo buildings had really been upgraded over the years and they had put in some really awesome areas.
Taking photos of the animals didn’t really work out due to the glass and screens/cages but there were Warty Pigs from the Philippines there and Topher thought they were pretty cool! They also had a ton of big cats, it seemed like they had almost all of them. Some we’d never heard of. I personally like the meerkats the best. Beth’s favorite was the red panda.
Of course if there is a ride someone had to ride it. 
The dog’s head was well loved. Topher made a new friend. 
One more before hitting the road. 
Road the train to make up for our discount. It was pretty cool and it took you somewhere you otherwise wouldn’t see.
Phase 2: Dinner
We were there until close and we had told him we had planned on going to a baseball game next. Of course, as soon as the tickets were purchased he said he was tired and didn’t want to go any more. We told him we just need to go get dinner and cool off and we would all feel better. He wasn’t so sure but still wanted to go to dinner. We had found a seafood restaurant near the the baseball field and he was pumped. If it comes from the water he loves it!
Christopher had been really wanting to eat some lobster and they didn’t have full lobsters but a lobster roll was just the ticket. He absolutely loved it. The food at the Smuggler’s Wharf was really great and it was just the recharge we needed before the game.
Phase 3: Baseball
We headed off to the park and the traffic in the short drive was insane. Getting into the parking garage was a minor nightmare but we got it just in time for the game to start. As we walked towards the ball park I noticed our tickets were in the same section but our seats weren’t next to one another. You’d think that if you selected three tickets they would narrow things down so you could sit with your family at the park, but they apparently don’t do that for the Erie Seawolves. So you do what you do and you just go to your section and find a seat and see what happens. It didn’t take long before we had to move. Beth decided to run off to get drinks and Toph and I moved down a section.
Of course we took a seat that was already taken and the man next to me informed me we took his friend’s seat. I explained the situation and he said he knew they sold tickets like that and showed him we did own one of the seats we were in. He said they had a no show so Toph was welcome to sit next to me in that seat. I thanked them and explained we had a new baseball fan fresh from the Philippines. That lead into the whole back story and those folks were SO nice. They’re daughter was leaving and explained that when Beth came back to let them know and they’d all move down so we could sit together.
The daughter left and then came back with a souvenir cup from the park. The guy asked what Topher wanted to do. Go dance on the dug out? His nephew was the park manager. After he heard it was Topher’s birthday they didn’t hold back! Beth made her way back and brought drinks. Soon the man’s wife disappeared and came back with a Seawolves hat! He immediately took off his Little League cap and put on the new one. He was so excited. We talked some more and explained that some day Toph hoped to catch a fly ball. We didn’t bring his glove and we were sitting behind the net either way. Most of the way through the game the wife brought a game played ball and Topher was pretty excited. I think there was a little bit of a disconnect since he didn’t see it get hit but he was excited to have a game played ball. At this point I felt a little self conscious for all the generosity. I just hoped they had the connections and didn’t go off to buy everything. Either way, they made Topher’s day!
Phase 4: Fireworks
Another thing that fell into place was that it was fireworks night. It was a very long day for everyone but it was the perfect first birthday for Topher, as a family. The game went into an extra inning and just as the home team went down and it wasn’t looking good, the home team was up. We had some confusing calls but soon we had a runner on second with one out. Batter up! This guy hit a walk off run so hard it hit the roof of the near by hockey arena. It was a win and the crowd went nuts! It made the fireworks show for the sold out crowd that much better!
To those folks who were so generous, thanks so much! I wish we could have thanked you more appropriately!
It was such a perfect day, and this birthday will be very hard to top.
