A 13th Birthday Party

The morning of Jericho's big 13th Birthday extravaganza began bright and early when the Bounce House guys came to set up the waterslide.

Judah was beside himself with excitement. "Dey're here, mama!" and later, "I'm so pwoud of getting to go on da swide." (He didn't quite know how to express his delight, but squealed that phrase out with glee.)



If you're looking to throw a party where you don't have to facilitate games...one that is low-fuss and pretty much runs itself, I highly recommend these things. They're great for hours of non-stop entertainment. The kids will come in hungry and thirsty, however, so have plenty of both on hand.

It did require some supervision (to be sure there weren't too many kids at the top of the slide at once, and of course so that nobody drowned or was otherwise injured)...but oh, sooooo worth it.

The company we rented ours from brought it by at 9:oo AM and didn't come back until almost 9:00 PM, so to say we got our money's worth would be a bit of an understatement.

Here Judah swoops down the slide with a cousin.



Oh, and the dollar store foam swords made great party favors. Most didn't last through the duration of the party, but the kids sure had a blast dividing up into teams and playing 'king of the mountain'.



Somewhere in there, I'm pretty sure I heard one boy yell, "For Sparta!!!" before leaping down the slide, sword in hand.

Here, the kids were all taking a brief snack break in the middle of the festivities, and of course posing for the photo.



Interestingly, upon looking at these pictures as I loaded them onto my computer, I suddenly realized that my sons (yet) undecorated aqua walls would look GREAT with sharks circling around... **brain whirring with ideas**

This photo almost makes it look like his bedroom is in an aquarium or something.



**And now, a courtesy cuteness Cut-away Break**

Here, I bring you an adorable witto cutie patootie-wootie ahem, little bundle of joy in an impromptu, mid-party "Anne Geddes" style portrait sitting using one of my porch pots.

Great aunts get full creative license to do crazy things like place preemie babies on pilows in pots and then take portraits of them.

Everyone humors them in their dotage.

And of course ooh and aah when they see just how darling the little baby looks perched upon a green blanket mossy bed. (Work with me, people!)



That adorable little newborn peach-fuzz, and those cute little teensy-tiny little fingers...isn't he just SO cute?

Oh, but it gets better.

Here he is with his eyes open. Sooo adorable!



**We now return to our previously scheduled Birthday Blogcast**

Here is our birthday boy with his easy-peasy oreo-cookie crusted Ice Cream "cake". \

Saved me hours in a 100 degree kitchen and was a real crowd pleaser.

Even if I did have to 'repair' the wax letter candles after little brother got into them. Thankfully all it took was melting one side with a lighter stick and quickly adhering the other side to it.

It was either that or end up with a "Happy Birllday" message on the cake.



Naturally, Jericho had to ham it up while blowing out the candles. With his nostrils.



We're just so proud. (Did you sense that heavy sarcasm just now?)

Then, while big brother is inside for a video game break Wii-th his friends, I got this cute photo of little brother with a couple of his cousins...the die-hards who were still out playing on the slide.



The only drawbacks to bounce house slides with attached pools, was the fact that the attached liners were put on with ginormous velcro, the scratchy side affixed permanently to the bounce house itself which made things a bit rough when the liner would get loose.

But hey, when kids are having this much fun, nobody cares about a couple of abraisions or mild sunburns.

In fact, the birthday boy told us in passing (before his last couple of runs down the slide), "This was the BEST birthday party ever!"



Awwwww.

And judging by the fact that several of his friends begged to stay long into the evening, I'm guessing they thought so, too.

Double Awwww.

It was fun.

I tell you, I don't think I've laughed quite so hard in ages as I did when Jeff passed by with a puzzled look on his face and a pair of BBQ tongs in his hands...heading for the main bathroom. "Someone put a corn on the cob in the toilet!" he called over his shoulder in disgust.

Oh, and did I mention that the bounce house shorted out when someone stood on the edge of the pool, releasing gallons onto the extension cords (yipes!).

Something shorted out, but we were able to move the unplugged cords to a safer location (higher ground) and plug them in elsewhere and it was up and running again.

Unfortunately, I didn't learn until early Tuesday morning that whenever that first bounce-house plug shorted out, so did the nearby plug in our garage, to which our freezer was attached. Thankfully due to it's very full state, I only lost a couple of bags of bananas which I'd kept for banana bread.

Ahhh, yes, the fun just never ends around here, lol.