Skyler's 5th Birthday Party!

Skyler had his first Birthday Party this year & he loved it!  We can't believe he's 5-years-old already... Almost ready to start school!  We started out by only inviting the four main friends in the ward that he mainly plays with, but ended up inviting most of their siblings as well (since he plays with them quite often too & then they wouldn't feel bad being left behind at home), which made for a much more exciting party!  Skyler was a little jealous that his Dad was playing with all these other kids besides him, but other than that he loved it!

Having his birthday in the heart of the summer, it was easy to decide to do a water party.  We borrowed a bunch of fun sprinkler's from my parents & a slip 'n slide from a neighbor.  The night before the party, Laron was trying desperately to come up with a way to PULL the kids down the water slide, since we didn't have a HILL for them to go down it on.  I told him that the kids would just have to run a little more to slide down it, but he woke up early the next morning & drove around from store to store looking for the perfect thing to pull the kids on down the water slide... What did he end up with?  A $40 doggie bed!  Apparently he tested it down an aisle at the store & it definitely worked the best.  When he showed up with it at home though, only MINUTES before the Birthday Party, we definitely didn't see eye-to-eye on the matter... I wanted him to take it back because it was an unnecessary frill that we didn't have in the budget & he was certain that it would be the highlight of the party!  And I have to admit that Laron was right.  The party definitely would have been a little less exciting without Skyler's Daddy pulling kid after kid down the water slide!  I guess that's what happens when DAD'S get involved in the planning!

After the kids got tired of the water slide, we started playing some water-balloon games.  After a few trial & errors, we ended up having them race across the yard with water-balloons under their chins, throwing balloons at a face on our tree, having a water-balloon fight (Laron was a GREAT target!), playing with a tarp-parachute, hitting a Water-Balloon Pinata & going Bowling for sea creatures on water bottles.  All in all, I think the kids had a great time!

And then of course we had to end with presents & ice-cream cones!  Skyler got spoiled by all his friends, but I think he felt a little subconscious opening up presents in front of everyone... I suppose it was probably worth it though! :)

It was SO cute to see them all hanging out eating ice-cream cones in the shade together... They were all tuckered out after playing hard in the sun all morning!  Thanks for coming everyone!  And "Happy Birthday" once again to our big 5-year old!  We love you Skyler!