Evan and Blake's Birthday Bash

I have never cared much for the big hill that was created in our back yard after it was back-filled when the house was finished being built. That is, until this weekend. After much scrutiny over how to celebrate the two littlest boys 3rd and 1st birthdays we settled upon a joint birthday party with a "water" theme. It is, after all, August! So we threw around the ideas of renting a public pool or one of those inflatable water slides, but after figuring up the cost we decided it was too much for this year's budget. So instead, we opted to homemake a slip n slide for the kids in hopes that they would enjoy it. I don't think they (or we) were disappointed! The hill going down the back and side of the house made a perfect slide and gave the kids a way to gain a little speed as they hurled themselves down. We acquired a large plastic construction-type tarp from my sister (thanks Jody & William!), and with a little help from a couple of water hoses/sprinklers and some tear-free baby soap, the kids were slipping and sliding and having a blast! Also, as their gift, Andy's sister, Sherrie, bought them a small kiddie pool which we set up prior to the party and the kids had a ball diving and swimming around in about 30 inches of water. I think these kids had so much fun! If you know our parties, then it's no surprise that the adults are outnumbered almost 2:1. Plus, it's always such a blessing to have everyone pitch in like they do and bring a dish for a smorgasboard of delicious food! We have such a wonderful group of family and friends! This is what it's all about for us - getting together to celebrate and seeing all the kids delight in the fellowship of their family and friends. It doesn't get much better than this. So, I now see that hill in a new way and you can probably bank on that not being the last of the slipping and sliding we'll be seeing there.

Of course, I have some video of all the fun! Evan has to catch a sprinkle on the way down the first time, lol! I thought Grant might tucker out before he got to the pool to jump in, lol - you'll see, lol. And Evan got nailed by another kid in that last clip (which I cut out), but he came up smiling and laughing. And Blake even got in on a little of the action when my niece, Katie, was kind enough to take him for a ride. He's a little young still for this kind of thing so he was just as content to get back into his dry clothes shortly thereafter and play with his baby toys, lol.



And here are a few pictures!