Party Time!

The boys had a joint birthday party this year, with Silas' birthday on the 10th, and Ethan's on the 19th. I figured since we have such a small group of close friends, and they almost all have at least one child about Ethan's age, and one Silas' age, we'd be inviting everyone to both parties anyway, so we may as well have one big party. And the boys are still young enough not to care. :)

I didn't actually get a lot of pictures because I was too busy chatting and watching the fun. We held the party at the Bason Botanic Gardens, which is a gorgeous park just outside of town. I chose it for the space, and the free BBQs, since I don't have one. I could never have hosted 15-20 people at my house (it's too small and I'd be too stressed), so this was perfect.

We've been having a horrendous summer, weather-wise. It's been windy or cloudy, or rainy the whole time. But yesterday, the day of the party, it was sunny, calm, and warm!! Hooray! Since this is most likely my boys' last chance to have "summer" birthdays, it could not have been more perfect.

Since party games make me almost break out in hives due to anxiety (okay, not quite), I delegated two friends to kind of take over that aspect, which they did happily. The kids played games while we set up and BBQ'ed sausages. Then we feasted on a lunch of deliciously unhealthy processed goodies. After lunch, and a rousing water balloon fight (which ended in tears for one of the birthday boys, Ethan, because the darn balloons just wouldn't break!), the kids got to work finding just the right sticks to whack the pinata with. It was SO strong. I thought it would come apart with just a few whacks, but all the kids had several turns each, then the string broke, and then it was whacked on the ground, and then finally, we just ripped the thing open! Man! And then the scramble for the lollies! Poor Silas, just stood in the fray, politely asking, "Can I please have some lollies? Can I please have some lollies?"

I only got Ethan's back as he was taking a turn.

Silas was very intent.


I'm no Martha Stewart, but I do like to have fun birthday cakes for my kids. This was as creative as I got this year. I really like the '7', but the icing on the '3' leaves a bit to be desired. I was going for red, but the icing was just staying pink, so I added some yellow to make it orange, which it did, but then the icing was really runny. It was like painting the cake, really. But they tasted delicious!

My birthday boys! I don't know what it is about 3 year olds, but most I've known seem to lose the ability to smile naturally when told to "smile" for the camera. This is certainly the case with Silas. Really. This is him smiling. LOL He cracks me up.

My little poppet slept through the party, attached to me in the sling. However, here's my beauty today. Isn't she darling? Note the hat? Yes, yesterday we were sweltering in 25+ degree weather. Today, we shivered all day at about 15 degrees. Thus, the hat, in the middle of summer. It's cute on her, though. ;)