Birthdays 2,3, and 4

I have separate stories started for all of these events, but none of the posts were going anywhere and therefore never made it to the blog.  So here is a rundown of how we celebrated the kids' birthdays in July.  You know, their June birthdays.  And we're still not quite finished yet...

We met my parents and brother's family at a park in the Quad Cities for an afternoon to hang out, play in the water, steal the only pavilion from all other park-goers, eat, open presents, and catch up. 

It was a sunny yet windy day and we decided to try a brand new park on the river for a little BBQ.  One would not have known there was only one shelter and no grills on site based on the web site's praise for the beautiful park.  Thanks to "proper prior planning" (there are 4 more P's that go with that I will leave to your imagination.  A big thank you to my club swim coach for instilling that in me and for the fact that the whole phrase still comes to mind at least once a week) we had 2 grills of our own.  We also had my sister-in-law and I staking out the 1-year-old's birthday party group that had rented the shelter for the day.  Let's just say we helped them shut their party down a couple hours early, scored their rental permit so no one else could use the pavilion, and had a lovely dinner in the only shady spot the new park had to offer.  Never a dull moment with this group! 

July brought our good friends back from their vacation in California, and therefore the friend birthday party.  This year we celebrated both kids, since Myka got a friend party at age 3.  We invited 4 families that knew both kids, and all 14 of them had a blast.  We went back to the archives of 2 years ago and had a backyard, pool themed party.  And therefore my dream of a simple beach ball pinata.  I guess I got a little cocky because I didn't leave myself enough time for any mistakes and of course the first try shriveled up like a dried grape. (or a raisin...)  So I was literally gluing on the outer layer the morning of the party, but as long as candy was promised to come out of it I don't think anyone really cared.

 This is Eli's "ball sprinkler" that he picked out when we went to grab a new pool at the beginning of the summer.  That orange dot above the blue part of the sprinkler is a ball that was suspended there for about 20 seconds.  That is how the sprinkler is supposed to work.  This is the only day we ever made that happen.

 The group with their "one piece of candy each" they were allowed after the pinata broke, about 5 minutes before supper.  Somehow I was able to whisk away all the bags of candy into the party favor buckets without any tears...

And you know it's been a good  party when it ends with a broken chair and table...

Our final stop on the "Tour de Birthdays" was the annual Big Girl Day in the Quad Cities with my college roommates Emily and Sarah and their oldest girls.  This is the third year we've been able to get together for a special day and we realized they have sat in the same order at the same table every year.

 Myka -6, Kelly - 5, and Michaela - 5

And they never fail to entertain us...

 Apparently pony tail girl couldn't wait to get that cup of water.  Doesn't she know how important this picture is?!?  I mean, they aren't going to fit in there much longer...

Happy Birthday to Everyone! 

And may all of your birthday's last throughout the entire season as well!

Twins