Birthday Party, Part I

Zachary's big birthday party was Saturday. I've been working my ass off for weeks getting ready for this event. I've done this every year for his birthday, even last year when I was a month away from giving birth to Evan. Here I am last year, 400 months pregnant.

Last year I sent out 20 invitations and only 6 kids made it. It's just hard to get the kids together after school gets out. So this year I cast a wider net, sending out 26 invitations, hoping for a better turnout. I always put RSVP on the invites, but usually not many people respond. This year, by Friday I'd only had 3 people call. I was ticked. I couldn't believe some of my close friends hadn't even bothered to call to tell me if they were coming. Saturday afternoon I happened to look at this year's invitation and realized it said "Regrets Only". Holy cow, I'd only had 3 regrets! This year's theme was Madagascar 2.

Lots of kids showed up, lots of adults showed up. I don't think I sat down the entire party.

I ordered these inflatable animals and beach balls for party favors. My sister in law Denise helped decorate with the animals. They were a huge hit.

The last kid got the last piece of cake!

The biggest hit, however, was the water slide. It was a stretch to bring a water slide to a Madagascar theme, but the kids loved sliding down the "Congo."

I wish I had more pictures with ALL the kids here. We had 27 kids and 22 adults show up. Everyone was fed, we just didn't have any leftovers. Many kids cried when they had to go home. I went to bed so exhausted I was in pain. Earlier in the day I wondered if this would be worth all the effort. Oh yeah, I think it was!

More birthday celebrations to come. My father and step mother are coming for a visit Tuesday, we'll celebrate with them, and Zachary's actual birthday is Wednesday.