John's birthday

John's birthday fell on Super Bowl Sunday this year, so we decided to have his birthday party the following week. It is a good thing we did as our weather improved considerably by the end of the week. On the day of John's party, temperatures were in the low 60s and the sun was shining, perfect for our backyard celebration.

We rented a bounce house and invited John's classmates for the party. The sports-themed bounce house had a large bouncing area plus a slide on the side. The slide was extremely entertaining to the kids as they thought it was fun to try and squish each other going down and at the bottom. The kids were really aggressive and it's actually amazing no one was seriously hurt, but it seemed like everyone had a great time. It felt good to spend the afternoon outside after having been cooped up inside due to the cold and icy weather for almost two weeks.

Amelia and some friends at the top of the slide.

The atmosphere of the party was chaotic. Kids running in the bounce house, sliding and tackling each other on the slide down, running across to the swingset, tramping through the house to play in John's room, bringing out John's Nerf guns and shooting each other in the bounce house, etc. There was a lot of energy and it was fun to watch. Take 14 of John's classmates, plus siblings and their parents, plus a handful of neighborhood kids, and we had a house full.

John wanted a "football and Star Wars party". So we had a sports-themed bounce house, a football cookie cake (no coincidence there that the colors are orange and green), and a Darth Vader pinata.

Everyone crowded in the dining room to sing happy birthday to John. After I took this photo he climbed on the table to get closer to the candle.

A few friends and parents stayed after the party was over, including John's friend Gracie. As the chaos diminished and just before I started cleaning up the terrible mess, we relaxed with some wine and watched the kids bounce some more. Just before everyone left, I took this photo. This is the only close up shot of John I took all evening, as he was too busy running all around and playing with friends to be bothered for photos. But John and Gracie were being really sweet with each other, comparing candy from the pinata and trading to get their favorites, and I *almost* caught a smile here on John's face.

Happy 5th Birthday, John!