Birthday Party #2

As a follow up to yesterday's post, here are the details on Jack-Jack and Christian's birthday party. Jack-Jack and Christian are 2 little boys, not related, who live on our block and are Sean's age. This year they had a joint birthday party in the alley. Huh? It might sound strange to some people, but it's part of life here where I live. My street shares an alleyway with the street behind us - it's where our garages or parking pads can be accessed. It is also the site where kids gather to ride bikes, play ball, draw with chalk, and have birthday parties (or block parties for the adults).

We hit the alley at around 6 p.m. There were enough beer-boiled hot dogs for an army - which would be great if my boys ate anything other than peanut butter sandwiches or chicken nuggets. The boys really enjoyed the red fruit punch however!
Then around 6:30 the party really got started. Firefighter Sam and his crew showed up - they were scheduled to come, no one set anything on fire!The firemen sprayed the kids with the hose again. Much fun in the water!

E-I-E-I-O

So I've been completely behind on my blogging...life just gets in the way sometimes, doesn't it? I did want to write about a couple of fun birthday parties the boys have been to over the past couple of weeks. I'll start with Campbell & Audrey's birthday in this post, and tomorrow will write about Jack & Christian's.

Campbell & Audrey are my friend Kary's daughters. Kary and I were pregnant with Brian and Campbell at the same time - our due dates were 1 day apart.In the ensuing 4 years, I added Sean and Colin to the mix, and just about 2 years after she had Campbell, Kary gave birth to Audrey. This year Campbell and Audrey had a petting zoo party.

When we got to Bethesda, the Pony Express was just setting up in the backyard. They were carrying pot bellied pigs, chickens, rabbits, ducks, and designer "silky" chickens (anyone ever see one of these before???) to the crates in the backyard.

And then there was the pony ride...

Brian, my heretofore shy guy, has really gotten brave in the past few months. He decided he wanted to take a ride on the pony. When Sean was asked if he wanted a ride he said, "No thanks". At least he's polite. So off Brian went to wait in line with all of the little girls. He had the opportunity to learn at the tender age of 4 how to be a gentleman. He was so patient and waited until all the girls had taken a turn before he got his turn. A number of parents even acknowledge how patient he was.You see Sean in the background - still not interested in going on a pony ride - "No thanks" was the litany I heard.

Then I went inside to nurse Colin, and when I came back out, this is what I saw...
You couldn't get this boy off the pony! He would get off, and then run back around, grab a helmet and ask for another turn. It was like he was addicted to crack! The owner even laughed at one point when he turned around and saw Sean standing there, patiently waiting for the man to lift him up onto the pony. I told Sean that we wouldn't be taking the pony home with us, and the owner handed Sean his business card - you can see Sean getting ready to hand it to me here...Meanwhile, Colin just had a ball spending the afternoon with David & Lala.
All in all, a really fun afternoon. The boys were exhausted, and happy.

And then there was their silly daddy...