So.... How Was The Party?

Thanks for asking! As our regular readers know, this weekend was the girls' birthday party. It was a bit stressful for Mommy, but we made it! Here is a photographic journal of the day's happenings:

Granny 'Wina (Edwin's mom) with Ella, whose birthday was Saturday. She is now a 1 year-old big girl!

We bought a $2 kiddie pool on clearance, and filled it with sand. It's pretty safe to say that it was DeLaynie's favorite part of the party. :)

Ella was interested in the sand, too.

She, however, only wanted to throw it, and was quickly banned from the beach.

She crawled away to find other fun things to do.

Like watch DeLaynie play in the sand from Daddy's arms. (Awwwwwwe!)

We moved the "beach" from the open sun into the shade of the canopy, forcing DeLaynie to get out for about ten seconds.

I was glad. It gave me a short opportunity to take some pictures of her in her hula skirt. Then she was back in the sand.

It was then time for cake! Ella wasn't totally sure what to do about it.

"Um, what do you want me to do?" You really would think that a kid who puts everything into her mouth, including rocks and mulch, would think to put a cupcake into her pie-hole, but not so much...

She was willing to touch it,

But I had to shove it onto her face in order to give her a taste of it. It made me a little nostalgic for our wedding, oddly enough.

"Mmmmm. This is even better than mulch!"

"It looks like mud, but it tastes like something more wonderful than I have ever dreamed!" From that point, she had no problem understanding what to do with it.

Then it was DeLaynie's turn to blow out the candles. While we sang the famous birthday song, she received a good, squeezy hug from Daddy.

Then, we lit the candles... and she stared at them. Daddy eventually "helped" her blow them out. She didn't see much of a point in wasting her well-earned oxygen.

She preferred to go fly a kite to eating the cake.

So they did. Go, Daddy, go!

Ella watched from a good, far distance, but was much more interested in her cupcake. You go, girl!

DeLaynie found an abandoned plate. "What's this?" you say. "Is she going for the cupcake?"

Nope. This chick is after those Doritos!

But even they can't keep her still. At least she's out of the sand for a few minutes!

So, what did the adults (and teenager) do while all this is going on?

My Granny and Pa found a nice, comfy bench form which to enjoy the festivities.

It's hard for everyone to contain their excitement, as you can tell.

Dad pushed some of the kiddos on the swings. He's still got it!

Micah (my little bro, who is still single, ladies!) and I posed for a photo that I'm considering submitting to Time Magazine.

There was some very interesting conversation.

And some philosophical thinking, apparently.

Isn't he handsome? (He's not single, ladies! All mine! You got that? Mine, mine, mine!)

Gigi (my mom) and Ella went for a slide. Wheeeee!

Back to the kids...

One of 'da boyz (as I like to call the sibling trio belonging to Youth Dude and Awesome Chick) pushed DeLaynie, very gently, on the swings. Those boys need a sister ;)!

We had a Dora pinata. It's the kind where each kid pulls on a string. That way, everyone's involved and no one has to witness the death of a beloved character or animal.

1, 2, 3.... nothing! Seven out of eight strings were pulled, but it was the eighth string that was supposed to open the trap door and release all the goodies. This annoyed Edwin to the degree that he tore the head off of Dora, thus defeating the point of the P.C. pinata to begin with. We have no pictures of Dora's headless body, or bodiless head, in order to protect the children from trauma. Just trust me, it was disturbing.

Granny 'Wina and Grandpa Bob enjoying some snuggle time with a very sleepy (and grumpy) Ella. It was a fun party. Thanks to all the guests for coming, and to my parents and Edwin for all of their super help in preparing, setting up, tearing down, and cleaning up. You guys rock!

These are the cards that 'da boyz made for the girls. Aren't they lovely? I just wanted to make sure that the world got to see them because they did such an amazing job making them. Thanks, guys!