The Party

The pool house was an absolutely perfect venue for the party. There was ample room for everyone and the AC was a welcome relief from the summer heat. Not to mention the conveniently located lake, with boat launch, park playground, and of course the pool itself. There was something for everyone.

The only thing Kevin could say about the decorations was that they were "black." Ummm... Yeah??? :) Oh, that, and "when did you have time to do this?"


He was even a good enough sport to wear the hat. Though Connor was clearly more taken with it than Kevin. I wasn't sure he was going to give it up. :)




My little fish was also the first one to settle into one of the kayaks. He was ready to hit the water the second we mentioned taking a boat out.

Several folks spent time out on the lake in one of the canoes or kayaks.

Including the boys who got to go on their first canoe ride. Connor absolutely loved it. Only the lure of the swimming pool caused him to wrench his little fingers off the bar and set foot on dry land again. Ryan enjoyed it for a while, then was ready to see what else was going on.

Cameron had a blast in the kayaks.

Several of the children played at the park while waiting for others to return with boats or for the pool to reopen after some thunder off in the distance. Coincidentally the last big birthday party we had for Kevin also included a trip to our neighborhood pool before the festivities got started at our house and we were kicked out of the pool just minutes after arriving as the pool was closed due to the thunder then, too.

When the pool finally re-opened we had the entire place to ourselves. The kids had a great time in the pool.

Everyone was having so much fun in the pool we stayed far longer than I had intended. We did eventually drag ourselves out of the pool and back inside to enjoy some cake and open presents.

Uncle Randy taught the boys how to blow their party horns.

As we were opening presents a massive storm blew in with pouring rain and a constant stream of lightening and thunder directly overhead. Luckily we had enough warning to get most everything inside before it really hit. Though several of the guys and I got drenched getting the canoes back in the boat house and loading up our kayaks. Good thing we were still in our swimsuits and had plenty of towels on hand.

While we were working on loading up the boats everyone pitched in to clean-up and help us pack up everything so that by the time we finally called it a night there was very little left for us to do. A real blessing given that it was already 10:30 - well past the boys' bedtime and Kevin had an early flight out to China first thing in the morning.