Madddux's Party

To celebrate Maddie's birthday, we had a day full of fun. Although we have yet to throw a formal party, we always do a small get-together with a few friends. To prepare for that, we had a grocery run after breakfast and then we gave Maddux her gift from Lehr and I: a small trampoline. Maddux has used the springboard at other friends' houses before, so I knew she would love it. As soon as she pulled off the wrapping paper, she started jumping. Of course Eli got in on the action too, and the two took turns until it was time to go to the pool. Both Eli and Maddie swam with Daddy for an hour before we went home for naps and lunch. The birthday girl showed off her under-water swimming skills and Eli demonstrated his ability to swim without the turtle back. (Video to follow later.)

As soon as the kids woke up from naps, our friends arrived. Lehr set up a slip-n-slide, water balloons, two sprinkler toys and a few buckets of water with super-soakers in the front yard. The kids went to town, soaking themselves and anything in their paths. The slip-n-slide didn't work as well as we might have hoped, most likely due to the kids not weighing enough to propel them down the runway. We had a quick dinner of chicken sausage 'hot dogs', fruit kabobs and pasta salad before the kids went back to playing. Maddux's cake was a flower made from cupcakes, and all of the kids got to pick a different color. Presents and more playing followed before everyone said good-night. Right before we turned off the water, Lehr and a neighbor tried out the slip-n-slide also. Not as much fun as they'd remembered.... After the fact we saw the label towards the foot of the toy: "Not intended for children under five! Not intended for adults!" So no one that used it today was legal...perfect!