Day 2575. The kids were up early and excited that the day for their birthday party had finally come. I also got up before my alarm clock as I had plenty of stuff to get done. Randy was blowing up balloons downstairs while I was finishing the cake, putting all the decorations on top. Then I wrote down all the questions for our quiz and printed out the necessary papers to hand out to the kids. The kids were actually downstairs with Randy for much of the time. I then also went downstairs so we could finish decorating and setting up the small tables for the kids to eat at.
At noon our ordered food arrived, and we sat down to have a nice meal. After we were done, it was 90 more minutes until the beginning of the party at 2 pm and time to finish up with all the preparations. We went to the common room and carried four tables to the area near our door, as well as all the chairs for the parents to sit on. Then I put the tablecloths on all the tables, as well as the paper plates, napkins and cups. Next it was time to put up the gift bags for all the guests, and put the drinks and snacks on the snack table. It all looked really pretty. The last thing to do was to tie three balloons together - one from each theme - and tie them to the sign by our front door, together with an error pointing in our direction. Then we were all done. We were ready for people to arrive, and it was not quite 2 pm yet.
About ten minutes before 2 pm the first guests arrived - Emmy's classmate with a parent. Soon more arrived. Sammy was getting upset that none of his friends had arrived yet but then his friends came as well. One of his three friends had said they were not coming, and one of Tammy's friends canceled today. Emmy's three friends all came, and then two more kids came for all three of our kids.
We had the biggest group ever, but everyone had lots of fun. I had set up the new trampoline outside, and then there was the sandbox. Emmy got his soccer ball and played soccer with his friends. Tammy was also playing hard with her two good friends. And Sammy had also lots of fun with his friends. And then another adult arrived for our children, someone who had known them since they were born. I hadn't seen her in a year and a half, so it was great to see her again.
With everyone there, it was time for the cake. I closed the door to the outside, with everyone outside, and we carried the cake downstairs and set it on the table. Then I lit the light and the candles, went outside and made sure the kids were standing in the right order to match the cake once they went inside. Then I opened the door for them, and they walked up to the cake. We all sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY for them, while I was filming them looking at the cake. Then they blew out the candles.
It was then my job to cut the cake and distribute the pieces to everyone. The cake had turned out very well. It was composed of two chocolate cakes and one white cake with sprinkles, and I had made a chocolate butter cream to cover it and hold it all together. People ate more cake than ever which was good as it meant not having that much cake leftover for us to eat.
The kids kept bugging me to let them open their presents but it wasn't time for that yet. First, it was time for the quiz. There were about 12 questions where they had to guess whether the answer was Tammy, Emmy or Sammy, then there was one question specific for each kid. One person was keeping score, and in the end it was Sammy's classmate who was the winner. Everyone was having fun and was learning things about the kids they didn't know.
Then it was time for the pinata. It was a 7 filled with candy. I had three bats for our children who started hitting the seven really hard. It took a while before it broke open. I then took the seven and shook all the candy out all over the floor. All the kids were ready and were quickly scooping up the candy to put it into their bags. I helped Sammy so he also got some before it was all gone.
The kids came to me again, saying that they wanted to open their gifts so I told them to go ahead. Each kid stood by their table and opened one gift after another with their friends watching. They got some really great gifts and were really excited.
Then people slowly started saying good-bye around 5 pm and left one after another. One of Tammy's friends was the last one to leave, and the girls had a hard time separating. Tammy was talking about inviting her over again soon.
Randy and I then started cleaning up and carrying all the tables and chairs back to the common room. My feet were hurting quite a bit but there was lots to do. I then went upstairs and put up the rest of the cake. Once the most important stuff was done, I finally sat down to take a break. When the kids came to me, asking to do some of the stuff they had received, I told them I had no energy left to do anything like that that same day. I quickly made them some food to eat as they were still hungry, they took a bath, and at 8 pm it was bedtime as usual. They said they'd had the best birthday party ever. That's the kind of feedback you want to hear.
I then got myself something to eat as well and started working on the pictures but the writing had to wait.
