As far as birthday milestones go, 6 isn't an age that gets the kind of enthusiastic treatment that parents reserve for when a child turns 1 or comes of age at 12.

But Ethan turned 6 on Wednesday after surviving an unimaginable ordeal, and Midland City, Alabama, wanted to make sure it was a birthday worth remembering.

And he likely will remember it for a long time, according to Sheriff Wally Olson, who visited with the boy and his mother.

"He's been with his family. He played with some toys," Olson said Wednesday afternoon. "He had a large time."

Ethan also saw the overwhelming support from his tiny community and from the world.

The city had planned a vigil at Napier Field Town Hall on Tuesday night, but after Ethan was rescued it turned into a celebration. There, children signed an oversized card. "Happy 6th Birthday Ethan," it said.

More than 1,200 other cards came in from across the nation, said Philip Parker, principal of Midland City Elementary.

The community started an online campaign to raise $7,000 to send the boy and his family to Disney World.

"It grew wings overnight," said Anna Owen, one of the organizers.

Owen said more than $8,200 was raised by Wednesday afternoon.

"It makes me proud. People just totally want to help. From London to Dothan, it's been overwhelming," she said.

The city is planning a massive birthday party and is trying to find a place large enough to hold it.

While the party wasn't ready Wednesday, many are leaning toward a high school football stadium.

Such is the joy in this small town of 2,300 knowing that Ethan won't have to waste his birthday wish hoping to be freed from a dark, underground chamber.

He was freed Monday after being hostage underground for six days.

Seeing her son again, said Ethan's mother, was "the most beautiful sight."

But even as the youngster blows out his candles and the south Alabama town plans a celebration, agents will continue combing through the crime scene at Private Road 1539.

The bombs

Two bombs were discovered Tuesday inside that bunker where an FBI team rescued the 5-year-old boy from his kidnaper, Jimmy Lee Dykes, authorities said.

One was in the bunker and another was in the PVC pipe that Dykes sometimes used to communicate with the authorities during the 6-day hostage standoff, the FBI said.