Abbie's Other Birthday Party, Better Late Than Never

Here are the pictures from Abbie’s big birthday party:


This is the birthday girl after she got into the frosted cookies. Notice how eerily similar her face looks to the pictures we took during the family birthday party.


Here’s the grass half of our yard. Special thanks to my father-in-law for grilling.


Here’s the pool half of our yard. It warms my heart to see so many children enjoying the labors of my vacuuming and chemical dumping. The water was about 75-degrees, and the air was about 70-degrees, so it was a little chilly that night. I eventually took Abbie into the pool, joining one other dad as the only adults brave enough to jump in the water. The two of us complained bitterly about the cold. None of the children mentioned it, at least not until they stepped out of the water.


This is what separates the sides, and keeps our li’l sinkers on the grass side. The fence is six-feet tall with a self-closing, self-locking gate, which means the kids shouldn’t be able to climb into the pool area for at least a few more weeks.


Ellie presents the cake to Abbie. The Hello Kitty cake is store bought. Ellie decided on this cake instead of making one for her because (1) Abbie likes cats, and most importantly (2) she didn’t have time to make a cake with the 721,018,632 other things to do to prepare for a party, such as finding matching Hello Kitty plates for the cake.


Abbie is hearing “Happy Birthday,” and is apparently startled to hear it simultaneously sung by so many children. Earlier in the day, I’d tell her “happy birthday,” and she’d sing back “happy birthday to me,” so I know she understands the concept.


Abbie is eating her cake, by which I mean she’s skimming the frosting off the top.


Ian liked the cake as well. He ate an estimated 2.5 pieces. An estimated 1.75 pieces stayed down. Notice that my mother has to force-feed cake to Tory in the background.


I told Ellie that Cheetos and Doritos were bad ideas for the party. If we ever need to blackmail our children with pictures of them with food smeared all over their faces, we’re in good shape.