Drew's Party

Once Drew decided on a pool party at his Mimi and Poppi's house for his birthday this year, Craig and I decided (well really I decided - we all know that moms handle these things, right?) that we would have his party on Saturday. So yesterday, we did just that.

Above you'll notice the cake I made for his party. I had never made a cake before in my life (not even from a box) until Saturday morning. Don't worry, I ordered one from a local bakery Friday morning just in case my first attempt failed - everyone knows there's no such thing as too much cake. It turned out okay for a first attempt, huh? Just don't look too close at the lower right side - it looks as if it could crumble at any minute. Note to self: center top layer more carefully next time.

The party turned out to be interesting to say the least- it happened in stages, and I'm not talking about play, food, cake, presents, play some more like I had planned. Oh no, this party was much more exciting than that. We had before storm, during storm, and after storm.

The weather was nice as the party started, cloudy, but nice. The kids weren't wasting any time jumping in the pool as they arrived. It was about this point that I got to missing Craig. I walked inside to find him and my dad kicked back in the recliners. I said to them "I don't think so - y'all are part of this party too" to which they responded with a chuckle as in "we got caught". The three of us headed back outside. Loud voices, laughter, splashing, and other sounds you would expect to hear with a pool full of children filled the yard, as all of us adults looked on. Then we heard it, the sound we had dreaded since we stepped outside. Thunder. It was soft at first, farther away, and the children in the pool were oblivious to it as the adults look at each other thinking this is not going to be good. These children came to swim. They were not going to be happy having to get out of the pool. They weren't, but seemed content to spend the next few minutes outside in the moon walk. Then, as the storm grew closer we had to move the party inside. This was not thrilling (for any of us), but we hoped that after a few minutes inside the storm would pass. I love this picture with my mom rubbing her head. It looks like she's thinking (as we all were) what have we gotten ourselves into. Thanks to my mom and dad for so graciously opening their yard and, as it happened, their house for the party. While inside, we passed the time by having Drew open his gifts, enjoying our pizza dinner, and having cake and ice cream. The fish cake above is the cake that I ordered. My feelings weren't hurt too bad when the kids said they wanted to cut it first. The adults were treated to choruses of "it's not thundering anymore", "it's just drizzling", and "it's not raining anymore" the whole time we were inside. Thankfully, by the we finished cake and ice cream the storm had passed and we were able to head back outside. I don't know who was more thrilled with this development, the kids or the adults. We were able to conclude the party outside without any other excitement from Mother Nature. All in all it was a great party. Interesting, but great. We got to everything that was planned, we just did it a little backwards. As another teacher at the party reminded me, we are good at these type things. Thanks to all of our family and friends who attended. This is sure to be a party that won't be forgotten for a long time.