We had perfect weather for EvieG's 5th birthday party yesterday. It was our second attempt at the Wet 'N Wild Birthday Extravaganza. Last year we had overcast and weren't able to maximize our water fun time. This year it was all about the water fun.

We had several of Evie's closest friends here, along with their parents. We all sat in the backyard and the kids played with all sorts of water paraphernalia. We had the wading pool, the water balloons, the over sized beach ball that sprays water, the water rocket from Uncle Jeff, and Midget Bowling. Oh, and bubbles too.

The water rocket was a huge hit. The rocket sits upon its stand. Water spurts out in a strong stream forcing the rocket into the air. It hovers on the water stream and sprays all below. It's really cool. The other popular water area was Midget Bowling. This is a version of the Slip 'n Slide. There is the long smooth lane where the kids slide down into the pool of water at the end. They must try and knock down the flag at the end. We call it Midget Bowling because we often toss the kids (bowling ball, or midget) down so they run over the flag (the pin). It can be quite a thrilling game, with many twists and turns.

So the kids played and played. And we socialized and had a few cocktails.

EvieG loved having everyone here. And she was quite the hostess. She publicly thanked everyone for coming, which I was proud of. But she was a true hostess in that she had to change outfits about four times. I'm not kidding. She welcomed her friends in her bathing suit, of course. For the presents, pizza dinner, cake, and public thank you, she had to wear her special 'party' dress. This is a white sundress from Hubby. After that part of the program came to completion, she quietly disappeared and came out in her bathing suit for round two of water fun. Once she was done with that, she exited inconspicuously once again, reemerging a few minutes later in her pajamas and was holding her nighttime book. Was that a hint for her guests to hit the road? I'm not sure. With blood shot eyes from the chlorine, she looked at me and said, "Who's going to read me my bed time story?" Party animal, she clearly is not. We were laughing at all of her costume changes. I said it was like a Hollywood awards ceremony, like the Oscars. She had an outfit for the red carpet, an outfit for her speech, and an after-party outfit. She's just like Beyonce.

I have to say, I personally prepared in a way that was as 'Martha' as I will ever get. Check out this cake I made.
Yep, it is a chocolate cake in the shape of an ice cream cone. How crafty is that? I had every intention of pulling a full 'Martha' and making it from scratch, along with the icing. I made the cake Saturday night. But I was so tired I left it in the pan. Yesterday morning I went to put it on the serving plate and it came out in 3 separate chunks. Crap.

I went to the store and bought cake-in-a-box. It came out perfect. I did make the icing from scratch though. Just a crapload of butter and sugar, nothing else. Oh, wait. Whipping cream and a touch of vanilla. Heart attack by the spoonful. Sooooo goooood.

It worked out and I made cake cones for the kids, which they loved. Those were the cake from scratch because that was part of the first cake-making attempt.

Hubby cooked and we ordered pizza. The beverages and snacks were abundant. It was my kind of birthday party. None of this hiring a petting zoo, clown, rare animals owner, or whatever some people choose to do. It didn't take me a month to prepare. There was no cut and paste involved. Just the cake and balloons. At our house, you can always find a good old fashioned birthday party that is not too over the top.

Next year I think I will make the cake and put coins in it, just like we had when we were growing up. If I put in loonies and toonies, surely no one will choke on them, right?

All's I'm sayin's all.

Labels: Family