Let's Party Some More!

This Thanksgiving found us eating turkey with all the fixings and celebrating Reagan's birthday. It's pretty hard to celebrate with friends around that time of year. We postponed. When her half birthday rolled around it was Memorial Day time. Another hard time to get friends together. So that found us celebrating her 7th birthday 3 months before her 8th. But that meant a pool party and float-in theatre were in order!

Since McKinley had been at school when I made her cake I gave her some icing and decorations and let her make an island next to Reagan's Under the Sea cake.

It was pretty cute.Reagan's cake was also easy to make. No piping involved. I could get used to this. The same rocks and fish from McKinley's plus some Fruit Roll Up seaweed and it was complete.We used the same take home gift for all three parties this summer. It will probably become a tradition. I haven't found a person yet who doesn't like Marshmallow Puffs.She invited 10 friends and 7 said they'd be there. We were all a little crushed when only 4 came. But we quickly realized they were a wonderful 4 to have! She has some precious friends.And it made it easy for the three chaperones to keep up with them! I hate that this picture is blurry but I do look pretty cute....maybe blurry is the photo fix that I need.After cake and presentswhich was apparently when it was a bit chillyand funnythey settled in for a float-in showing of the Bee Movie.It was a bit chilly and eventually everyone but Evan was poolside.
He was still in but was nicely wrapped up:)And so ended our two day party fest and summer of celebrating all three! I sit here being so thankful for my girls and the wonderful friends that they have.

And very thankful that Shawn is willing to clean the pool, mow the yard, and be our video man at a moments notice!

Let's Party!

When McKinley's birthday rolled around in February she was grounded within an inch of her life and her most of her friends were out of town at a church retreat. I know, we're mean.

Anyway, we decided to do a 13 1/2 birthday party. Instead of a cold February birthday she had a warm August one. I must admit, I was worried about 16 13 & 14 year olds descending on my house, but I carried on.

The cake was hand picked by the half birthday girl from the Family Fun website. I was relieved. No piping, easy as pie. Well, cake.

A beach and ocean cake. A towel under the palm tree with a beach ball and an umbrella.A life saver (hee hee), a beach ball, and a seashell.And of course a school of fish.And what beach scene is complete without a bonfire? We were so glad to find chocolate rocks at Wal-Mart. Sadly because of the circumference of my rock ring, she only turned 7. Hey, that might work out well for me...As the friends started arriving I was worried. They weren't swimming, they weren't jumping, they weren't even swinging...they were comparing cell phones.As more people came the cell phone circle moved to the end of the driveway.Eventually we did get them back in the backyard and swimming and jumping commenced. I've never been one for limiting the number of people on the trampoline. The way I look at it, the more there are, the harder I laugh.After the sun went down, the cake was consumed, and the presents were opened, it was time for Sardines! We'd gotten the idea from our neighbors when they had used our yard a few years ago. McKinley tried to carry the meeting on to explain inside the pool house but we moved it inside to a less distracting place. Besides, 16 kids in one small pool house doesn't quite work out. Oddly enough, it was just the beginning.So who knows how to play Sardines? It's a lot like hide and seek....but different.

For Sardines it has to be completely dark. Everyone should be in dark or camoflauge clothes. We even had some with black under their eyes! It's best to have a nice sized area with lots of hiding places available. I don't think it would work in a house. Well, at least not with 16 people. We used our yard, and three neighboring ones. Because of the dark, and the street being involved we paired the kids off. It also ended up that every other one had a flashlight. A pair stayed outside and the rest headed to the living room. I suggested some hiding places and then made sure I knew where they'd be. I would wait a few minutes, and then release everyone else. The pairs ran around the neighborhood looking for their friends. When found instead of the game being over, they would join them, until 16 people were all in one spot. The first hiding place was our pool house bathroom.

Can you believe there are 16 kids in that picture?!?! There are!We were able to find 7 really good hiding places and kill an hour and a half. Everyone had a blast, including me!So my worries about having that many teenagers at my house were pointless. I was so proud of McKinley's choice of friends after that. She has surrounded herself with nice, kind, and adventurous kids.And some true goofballs!***And now for the PSA---if you plan on doing a game of Sardines in your neighborhood think ahead and call your neighbors to warn them about people dressed in black, wielding flashlights, running through the houses, and getting close to windows. But do tell them what time the party is over, or they could get too comfortable!***

Rain, rain go away...wait!

We had a break this last week from the sweltering high temps that are so common during the summer. Our break included a ton of rain. And tons of Corvair driving weather:)

Although we are big swimmers all summer long, a break is nice from time to time. Recently though it had been several days and we were really missing it. Sadly, it was pouring. But because there was no lightning it was okay to jump right in. Only Tyler and Kennedy were brave enough though:)

So what do you do in a downpour?
Put on goggles, grab a raft,and float.And how about some downpour trampoline jumping?And then? Well, I don't know what this is...but they had fun!The rain has officially ended and we're expecting 90's and above again this week. Only in Oklahoma.......

Party Crashers

I have never been a rule breaker. But here I am telling you a second tale of how I crashed an event this summer.

We have friends that come to swim a few times each summer. Pitty Pat, as we all call her, her step-daughter, daughter-in-law, and four grandchildren. Her brother and his family live two doors down and their four children swim in our pool almost as much as we do.

For years I have heard them talk about jumping off the bridge at Pitty Pat's house. Their family has lots of summer parties and lots of jumping. Hearing them talk about it last week made me talk before I thought. "We need to crash one of those sometime!" Oops. But since they swim at our pool, isn't it only fair? Who's with me?

Luckily they agreed and we were invited for Saturday night. It was bring your own meat, enjoy yourself, and watch the festivities. Shawn came straight from a soccer game and headed straight for the bridge.
It's about a 12 foot drop into 12-15 feet of water. Except that with limited rain this summer the level is at 6 feet. Shawn is 6' 4". You do the math and get back to me.

McKinley and Reagan were equally excited and went straight to jumping.

Kennedy, my cautious one, had to talk herself into it each time. She had four great jumps though. Oddly, each time she got out on the balcony she thought about it more and more.Then she stopped going to the bridge.Luckily there were other things to do.While the food was being cooked,I just sat back and took pictures.

350 in 5 hours.

I might need to seek help.I wasn't the only photographer though.My sweet friend Lacie was also there.She just started her own blog to showcase her talent. We've been having Photoshop lessons. She's so much fun:c)

Pitty Pat took a few pictures herself. She looked like a stalker:c)To add a challenge to everything, some tried to climb the bridge back to the top. It was hard and I watched lots of children fall off. McKinley was my only one who made it.Some just watched.After a delicious dinner where seating was at a premium,every one got right back to the fun.

Water balloons,fire works, and more jumping.Smiles and fun were everywhere.But my favorite part of the evening? Watching Reagan and her betrothed, Evan. They are so natural with each other. He took her for boat rides,sat by her for dinner, and my favorite, came to her rescue when she couldn't get the boat back to shore by herself.As the sun set the jumping stopped and the adults sat back and enjoyed the beautiful evening.I might have mentioned that I felt the need to be adopted so we didn't have to crash again.

Or we could just let Evan and Reagan get married now, at 7, to make us all legal.

What do you think?