Munchie's 6th Birthday Party

We celebrated Claire's birthday party this afternoon at Parsons Park. Her cousins, Madelin, Aidan, and Molly were there. A few of Claire's kindergarten classmates came as well: Zoey, Claire, Elizabeth, and Madeleine. Grandpa, Grandma Janet, James, Casey, and Leslie came to the party as well! And Amy brought Kari, Will, and Claire! So we had quite a group of kids for a sunny, fun-filled afternoon of birthday excitement!

As the kids showed up, they started things off on the playground. We then played "Pass the Present." If you're not familiar, I just learned about this game from my partner teacher at summer school on Thursday. Basically, I got a cute little gift and wrapped it about 12 times or so in layer after layer of wrapping paper. Leslie played the music and away we went. It's like a cross between Hot Potato and Musical Chairs, although nobody has to sit out. Ultimately, the wrapping paper reveals a gift and that person wins it. Zoey was the winner at the party. Madeleine exclaimed mid-game, "This is fun!"

While the kids went to eat cupcakes and sing "Happy Birthday" I began setting up the piñata with my dad. The kids came over to the tree and took turns pounding the "High School Musical 2" piñata with our Mr. Clean mop stick before Claire W finally opened up a piece of it. Elizabeth stepped up and finished the job. Aidan, Madeleine, and Madelin basically broke the piñata into tiny pieces before everyone came forward to claim their piece of the five-pound candy prize!

It was time to open up the presents and boy did Claire ever take in a great haul of amazing presents! Probably at the top of the list is her new "American Doll" Julie. She also got actual tap shoes for her doll and an additional outfit. But there were several other spectacular gifts that Claire opened. This was easily her most fun part of the day!

After the gifts, Claire made sure her guests took home their goodie-bags and spent some more time playing in the park. Will accidentally finished the day banging his mouth on some playground equipment, opening up a small cut on the inside of his upper lip. Once the bleeding stopped, he seemed to be all right. He was blowing bubbles and laughing before we headed home. And he took a good nap this afternoon.

Claire and I spent some time in the pool where she played with her new "Little Mermaid" flippers and goggles. It was a perfect way to spend a sun-splashed afternoon. Oh, that and the Mountain Mike's Pizza we ate for dinner!

Thank you to our family who joined in on the fun. It was great to spend some extra time with Leslie, in town from Maryland for a high school reunion. Congratulations on your pregnancy and we look forward to seeing you again soon.

The party could not have gone any better! It was a very memorable day! You're the best, Munchie!

I love you.

~Daddy