Lucas Turns 10

Lucas was not supposed to spend his birthday in Nicaragua. We were supposed to be back in the United States. Things did not work out the way we planned, but Lucas still had a great birthday.

The day started out with a few games of spades, and a special breakfast requested by Lucas. Hashbrowns, bacon, and avocado. Lucas helped make the hashbrowns.

After breakfast, Michael and Henry went into town to pick up a surprise for Lucas. We took an ATV to the beach and around town for a drive.

We got stopped at a police checkpoint on the way home, and we found out the vehicle’s registration was expired. We got a shakedown from the police. They threatened to keep Michael’s license and send it to Managua where we would have to go and pay a $20 fine for driving with an expired registration. We were able to give the officer less than the cost of the fine and we drove away with Michael’s license. The officer was friendly. The boys were not impressed. They fell asleep while we were dealing with the officer.

Lucas and Henry got a chance to drive the ATV.

The afternoon was spent watching the last Harry Potter movie. We spent the last year reading the series. It is bittersweet to be done with the books and the movie.

Lucas opened cards and his presents after the movie. We cannot acquire anything too big since we have two suitcases and four backpacks. We managed to find a few small items for him. His favorite present is a small bowling set.

The highlight of the day was a family zoom call. It was a bit chaotic, but Lucas and Henry loved it. We got to see cousins, grandparents and aunts, and uncles. They all sang happy birthday to Lucas and we put trick candles on the cake for a laugh. We recorded the call and Lucas wanted to watch it after we hung up.

The fun did not stop there. After pizza (pepperoni and mushroom for Lucas) and cake, we had one more surprise for Lucas. A Minion Piñata. We discovered that it may be a good therapy tool for Henry.