
(Lorenzo, Lorenzo and Lorenzo.)
After being displaced as Baby in the family and having his soft, Samson-like tresses unceremoniously clipped, my baby boy Troy's rite of passage from toddler to three-year-old needed some serious sweetening up. Lucky for me, my kids are easy. For Lance and Troy, nothing can be sweeter than a birthday party. And so, for his third birthday, Troy, my Former and Forever Baby, was feted in the following account, entitled...)
BIRTHDAY BOY
On July 17, 2004, Lorenzo Troy Sereno had a date with Peter Parker.

(Troy, my Birthday Boy.)
On that sunny Saturday, Troy, my treasured toddler, turned three in sleek Spiderman style, as friends and family alike turned up at Galaxy 12 Theaters in Riverbank, CA, for Troy's Special Birthday Screening of "Spiderman 2".

(Troy's "Spiderman 2" Movie Party, Galaxy 12, Riverbank, CA.)
Now, everybody knows I'm a softie when it comes to birthdays. And when it comes to my kids, the sky's the limit! Max, my firstborn, celebrated his third birthday at the Manila Peninsula Hotel's Rigodon Ballroom complete with clowns, a magician, a Little Tikes playground and Glico's rides, and that's just for the kids! The adults among the guests had a string quartet, two buffet carving stations and an open bar to keep them happy. People who peeked in actually thought there was a debut going on!
Needless to say, I've gotten a little more grounded since then. But I still try to give everyone a good time. Name any kind of party and chances are, I've done it. As my kids and step-kids bear witness, I've done Chuck E. Cheese (who hasn't?), mini-golf at Golfland, go-karts and DDR at Camelot Park, even a surprise bowling-in-the-dark party for my stepson, Joey!
Of course, I've gone the traditional route too, like birthdays in the park. Troy's first birthday party was a particularly memorable one, where the WHOLE family came for the first time in years. Then there was my stepson Chris' picnic at Knights Ferry last year, where the kids went crawdad fishing in the shadow of a rustic covered bridge.
You may notice a definite trend going AWAY from the home here, and I can explain. It's not because I consider birthday parties done at home to be declasse. I've even thrown a few of them myself, mostly swimming parties because they're easy. Unfortunately, my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law also have swimming pools, so the Sereno children are understandably blase when it comes to swimming parties. And so you see, when it comes to entertaining my family, I have to think out of the box.
Besides, I'm a horrible housekeeper and an even worse cook. And when you are both, you aim for distraction when it comes to food and venues. And so I've patiently gone down the list, ticking them off one by one: Arcade? Done that. Mini-golf? Done that. Bowling? Done that. Roller King? Too rough. (Wait till they're older?) Laser tag? Too rowdy. (Wait till they're older!) McDonald's? Reserve for cold weather. Hmmm...Movies? NOW we're talking.
And so it was decided early on that Troy would have a Movie Party for his third birthday.
I started canvassing theaters months before. I compared packages, pricing, parking, and party rooms. In the end, it was a toss-up between Brenden Theaters in downtown Modesto and Galaxy 12 in nearby Riverbank. After an ocular inspection of both, I decided on Galaxy 12, where $13.50 per child (minimum of 10) gets you a movie ticket, popcorn, soda, candy, 2 hours in the Party Zone and a tour of the Projection Room. (Brenden was twenty-five cents more and they DIDN'T have the tour.)

(Outside the Party Room.)
And so, shortly after 2:30 PM, friends and family alike piled into the private Party Zone upstairs and feasted on piping hot pizza and pitchers of root beer.

(The Beggars' Banquet.)
Then we brought out the piece-de-resistance, a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake with their limited edition pink-and-purple cotton candy ice cream (Troy's favorite) topping a moist layer of chocolate cake. Of course, it was a "Spiderman 2" cake, with "Spidey" and "Doc Ocs" making cameos atop the blue and white webbed icing.

(Troy's "Spiderman 2" cake.)
Troy had help on standby to blow out his candle, but he managed to do it on his own...

(Make a wish!)
That poor cake was decimated in no time flat. When it was time to give away loot bags and open presents, all of us had blue teeth.

(Troy with his sparkling blue teeth.)
Mommy and Daddy like to keep everybody happy, so Lance got some "birthday" presents as well. Troy and Lance alternated opening their gifts, mostly Spiderman stuff with the occasional sprinkling of Thomas the Tank Engine.

(Troy and Thomas the Tank Engine.)

(Lance got a Spiderman present too!)
Then the whole party was given a tour of the theater's Projection Room. We saw the giant rolls of film being threaded into the alien looking machines. We even got to peek in at the different movies playing in the theater!

(Projection Room tour.)
Unfortunately, we had to cut the tour short because "Spiderman 2" was about to begin. Before we left, however, we were assured by the projectionist that he would wait until we were seated before starting the movie. Of course, this made us feel even MORE special!
After the tour, everyone got souvenir strips of celluloid before the Party Coordinator herded us down the elevator and through the hall, our group cutting a clean swathe through the Saturday afternoon movie crowd. Our final destination was Cinema 6, for the 4:30 matinee showing of "Spiderman 2".
It was a wonderful party. Very hassle-free from the standpoint of a very harried Mom. Indeed, all I had to worry about were the invitations, cake and goodie bags. Galaxy 12 took care of the rest. They even cordoned off an entire row of choice seats for our party before opening their doors to the general public. Very helpful, considering the show was sold out.
After we settled in to our seats, each of us got a Kid's Party Pack containing popcorn, soda and candy to sustain us through the two hours of "Spiderman 2". Then it was back to the party room for more pizza, cake and root beer.

(We want seconds!)
"Spiderman 2" was a joy to watch. One of those rare sequels that turned out to be better than the original. It was funny at the right moments and surprisingly suspenseful, even to a jaded Mom/Stepmom of six. I found myself totally carried away at times that Lorenzo had to chide me for talking too animatedly to my friend, April.
He was right, of course. We were being too loud and I'm sure the hoi polloi around us didn't appreciate the running commentary, but I couldn't help it. I was high on life! Troy was happy, everyone else was having fun, and I was totally enjoying myself. Then again, maybe the company had a lot to do with it.

(Happy Birthday Troy!)
It was a very memorable experience, and I would do it again in a heartbeat! I didn't think I'd be able to pull it off, since what Troy REALLY wanted was a "Harry Potter" movie party, but "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" had already finished its run by the time his birthday came along. Good thing Spiderman came to the rescue!
Judging from his beaming smile after the movie, I don't think Troy minded at all!

(Troy's beaming face. My reward for a job well done!)