Birthday party!

Busy collecting party hats...a few hours later, she had donned broken swimming goggles and two party hats!

Two buddies playing cars & house

Ryan, the birthday boy!

What do I do with this thing?

Sugar high, Shaun?

We had so much fun at Ryan's 5th birthday party!! Josh and Jen (his parents) must STILL be exhausted from hosting that shindig. I can see what Ryan and I have in our future, especially if our next baby is a boy. All the kids did wonderfully, but it is mayhem, for sure! I felt guilty leaving their house since it looked like a tornado had passed through (or, similarly I guess, a whole bunch of 5-year-olds!) It was all good fun, though, and Kate really had a great time. We were there for 6 hours and I think she was only just hitting her party stride! She completely did not get the whole "birthday" thing and, true to her word, she DID NOT like cake. Jen made these fabulous cupcakes with DELICIOUS chocolate frosting (this coming from someone who likes her frosting!!), but Kate tried the tiniest of bites and proceeded to make some of the best food-reaction faces I've ever seen! She was scraping her tongue and contorting her face, only to announce, "I don't like pancakes!" So, perhaps we won't be serving traditional birthday cake when she turns two (at least not to her)! She did eat her weight in watermelon, so I guess she was right when she announced her intentions to us that morning. Aside from the food, Kate loved playing with all Ryan and Shaun's toys, especially the trucks. That's my girl! The sweetest part of the day came when Shaun announced that he was the daddy and "baby Kate" was the mommy, and their baby was his stuffed puppy. They made coffee in the play kitchen and it was enough to make this mommy swoon--at least until Shaun announced that I could be the grandma! :)