Party!

Frank's "Friend Birthday party" was yesterday. Yeah, it's only two months after his birthday. Anyway, we held it here, and invited the kids whose names he mentions most often. Seven of them came, as did the two kids of friends of ours from college; the daughter is a few months older than Frank, and the son is five.

We set up the folding table adjacent to our kitchen table.

Judging by the fact that the kids were very reluctant to leave (two of them had to be carried out by their parents), I'd say it was a success! I had some games planned, but when the kids arrived, they all swarmed over Frank's toys, and they all were playing so nciely, I decided to bag the games. They arrived at 10:30am, and played for about a half hour. I then had chicken nuggets ready to be served, so we called them to the table. While they were waiting their turns to be served, they had pictures of fire trucks (the theme) to color. (I white paper on a roll I laid out beforehand and taped to the tables, just in case an enthusiastic colorer strayed off the paper.) They ate their chicken, chips and pretzels, and then ran back to play. We cleaned up lunch stuff, and got things ready for the cake. at 11:40am, we called them back to the table and sang Happy Birthday.

This plate is the set we had, with matching cups (which we didn't use- we used juice boxes) and napkins.

The cake was done by a bakery just down the road from us called Baker's Perfection. They also did our wedding cake, and they are fabulous! Seriously, if you ever find yourself in Morris County and need a cake for an occasion, go to them. They actually took a napkin I gave them and replicated the design for the cake! The cake itself was actually one of those pull-apart cupcake things, with buttercream icing- man was it good! And, as perusual, I ordered way too much, so we have a lot leftover. I'd figured the parents would eat some too, but only one or two did.

I handed out goodie bags, and the last child left at 12:30pm. Normally, this would have been when we put Frank in for a nap, but nope, not yesterday- it was then Niece #2's birthday party, 45 minutes away! Frank slept 20 minutes in the car on the way down, and not at all on the way home. We got him to bed at about 8:45pm last night, and he was quiet a good 12 hours! Darrel said he woke around 4am from a nightmare, and he stayed up with him a bit, but then he didn't call for us again until about 8:40am. I, of course, was wide awake at 7am, but that was okay, because I'd slept well and had gone to bed around 9:30pm.

Niece #2's party was fine, a normal family party. I showed Niece #1, age six, how to use my digital camera, and she went around and took some pictures. She seemed very interested in it. She's quite painfully shy, and doesn't say much, but if you ask her questions she'll nod or shake her head. I feel bad for her, and I worry about her.