Party Party!

One of the things that is so nice about a two year old, or any young child for that matter, is that they don't really understand that a birthday is supposed to be celebrated on a particular day. Since we already had plans for Jack's actual birthday on June 26, we delayed the big celebration until we could throw some more party in the pot. Jason celebrated the big 3-5 on July 1, and since the Fourth fell nicely on a Sunday this year, we invited the family over for a bit of hoopla.

It took Saturday to make the cake, which was again lifted from the pages of Family Fun. Here is the empty barnyard that Helen helped make. I can't resist the nod to my pun-prone inlaws to say it was desserted. You can all throw pie at me now.
Then the animals gathered. Owen helped with the livestock, mostly in the hopes of candy rejects.
Here's my tell: a can of black olives shoring up the rickety structure. You'd think that being a builder's daughter I would know the importance of a good foundation, but I was just following the magazine instructions.
Here are the birthday boys! Jack had already gotten into the chips, and had to be torn away from the bag. Poor deprived child whose mama hardly ever buys chips!

He extinguished the candles on the first puff.He and cousin Allison had the best seats in the garage. Look at their plates. What in the world?! After supper, there was plenty of hang out time before the Poarch Indians' fireworks, which we watched from our house. The kids roamed the soybean field and raided the blueberry bush.David and Jace brought their new potato gun. The younger ones played with their hands over their ears, never knowing when the next potato would be launched. OK, so it was mostly Helen being fearful. In all of my pictures from that evening, she has her hands clenched over those ears. It reminds me of her response to automatic flushing toilets.
Jack opened his loot, and by the end of the day, was quite spoiled. The favorite was the John Deere truck, trailer and tractor. We had a great evening, and I felt quite spoiled when my mother in law and great aunt Lois washed all the dishes. We love our family!