Overdue, but Worth the Wait!

Jared turned 5 in November, and Andrew turned 10 in December. This is the years of the "friend" birthday parties. The time of year is so hectic that it is difficult to have a party. Andrew originally wanted a sleep over with multiple boys. Our house is rather small, so we didn't think this would be a very wise idea. It's too cold to do things outside. Our opportunity arose when Jared was invited to his first "friend" party without us. Our friends from church had rented a place called "Pump-It-Up". I've been there with church groups before and knew how much fun it was. I did some checking and figured if I had the party on a weekday, it was cheaper. If I split the party between 2 kids, both of the birthday kids are free. My kids had an inservice day today and are out of school. It was perfect. Valentine's Day for the Clark's was spent playing on huge inflatables. Andrew could invite so many more boys to come and play than he could ever have in this house. We all had a blast! We had 26 kids in all. Only 2 were girls! Thankfully, they have 2 older brothers, so they fit right in. We did have one toddler join us at the end. My favorite picture of Joshua. Scott was pushing him on a scooter, and I was attempting to take a photo. I jumped out of the way at the same time he was turning to avoid me. The result was me taking the photo, as I was falling on him. Yes, he survived the fall with minimal damage.

Not only do the kids have a great time, so do the adults. My dad so kindly took Aaron on this obstacle course. With Aaron's muscle disease, it makes it impossible for him to climb the wall inside the course. My dad took him through to lift him over the wall. I never would have been able to lift him that high. (Aaron weighs 74# and it is dead weight)

This is a VERY unattractive photo of me, but I thought I'd show you how much fun I had. I raced on one of the obstacle courses with an 18 year old girl. (She's the older sister of one of Andrew's friends) She stopped and waited for me to catch up so we could go down the slide together!

I am not brave and attempt to make a cake myself. I can say I wasn't so pleased with some of the flaws in the cake, but it tasted good. (Martha, the icing was buttercream)

The boys got to sit on a throne to open presents. The were the "kings" for the day.

It was late, but well worth it party. We all had so much fun. What a great way to celebrate Valentine's Day with all the ones I so dearly love!