Making A Splash

We had Landon's official (i.e., friend filled) birthday party at the Rec Center pool yesterday.

This is the invitation I made.

I had planned on paying about $60, but they ended up giving us the family rate so it only cost $20 for all of us (4 adults, 15 kids) to get into the pool (woohoo!!). Seriously, that was such a happy thing.


I feared the pool would be crowded since it was the last Friday before school starts, but alas, the opposite was true. We had the place practically to ourselves, what a gift!


I asked (shnockered) Amie and Michelle to come to the party with their kids so that I'd have some help. Things were much more manageable than I'd anticipated, but it was nice to have them there.


Amie took pictures of the kids on the diving board while I was still getting all our stuff set up, and she ended up having a Sharpie (which I'd forgotten to bring) in her car so we could label the kids' drink bottles. Michelle had to hang out at the baby pool with Eva, so she was really nice to agree to come help. (She somehow managed to escape my camera today, I'm not sure how.)


Lucas shocked us all by going off the diving board! He's not really known for his fearless nature since he's more of a cautious sort of guy, but he looked at me like I was crazy for being surprised so apparently he's a dare devil now that he's 9 (as of yesterday).



My mom came to the party for a bit and brought some very tasty popsicles (much higher end than I usually buy) and her video camera so we could record the diving board stunts and gift opening. She also brought me a cup of Sonic ice! Weeha!

I have no idea why they decided to post like this with their popsicles, but I went with it.


I took a dip in the pool with my two favorite cutie girls Ashley and Eva. We just bounced around in the water while Eva sang "Chamel, chamel it means hi!" I wasn't familiar with this term, but found it hard to resist, so Ashley and I sang too.


There was a mandatory water-check break at 2:15 so everyone cleared out of the pool. We took the opportunity to open presents, Landon got some cash, a joke book, candy, a video game, a book to read, a board game and some sort of water toy. It's a good thing he opened them quickly because the second the lifeguard blew the whistle and gave the all-clear signal the kids took off into the water.


Instead of birthday cake Landon requested the fabulous chocolate-covered, chocolate donuts from Costco. This is Eva modeling the chocolatey goodness involved with those donuts. Amie said "they're a treat worth eating" so even she was pleased with Landon's choice (she prefers real food to treats).


Whitney cracked me up with her creative toy playing in the pool. Here she has 3 little frogs (courtesy of Kristi) and a squishy pig resting on one of the frog's backs. Clearly she's delighted.


Randy surprised us by showing up around 2:30. He wasn't really prepared to sit in the sun so he fashioned himself this little towel tent...fashion be damned.


At one point the kids all lined up for a race (an Olympic influence perhaps?). Landon's hand is on the right side of the photo because he was the one who got to yell "Go". Can you believe how empty the pool was?


I got the boys together for this group shot at the end of the day, but Lucas had already left so he's not in it (bummer).


Robyn was there with her kids too, she's really too cute. I'm sure people wonder how it's possible that we're related. Her cuteness caused Amie and I to wonder what it would be like not to have our thighs touch when we walk. Hmm?


This is the stash in the back of my car after the party. That's a lot of stuff right? I was proud of myself for remembering to bring an empty trash bag so we could clean up after ourselves. I think we left it cleaner than when we got there. I'm such a geek, but that pleases me.

**Can you believe how empty the pool was?
Do you recruit friends to help you?
Do you enjoy chocolate covered donuts?
When was the last time you had a popsicle?**