Praying for Sunshine

     On this past Sunday, we had a party to celebrate the birthdays of our three youngest children.  Leo, Oliver and Ginger have birthdays in June, July and August so we always throw them one big Summer celebration.  Every year I seem to pick a weekend where lots of families are away and I worry about how many people will come.  I didn't have to worry this year.  Everyone was coming.  As the guest list kept growing, I began praying for a sunny, dry day so the party could be outside.  I basically never wish for days to be sunny and dry, so this was new for me.  It wasn't even about not wanting 40 kids and 35 adults in my house.  It was because I knew they would have more fun outside.  There.  I said it.  Even I knew they would have more fun outside.
     The day of the party was indeed warm and dry.  Very warm. Unpleasantly warm.  I whined every time I stepped outside to work on preparations.  Luckily my super, amazing husband took care of 99.8% of what needed to get done out there.  My jobs were blissfully contained in the climate controlled utopia of the house.  I cooked and cleaned and decorated cakes and painted names on beach bags for the kids coming to the party.
     Five o'clock came and it was party time!  Outside we had a sand table with hidden shells, a large block of ice with treasures frozen inside, pennies in the hay, a kiddie pool, a large homemade slip and slide and new for 2015...slip and slide kickball!!!  Soon the house and yard were full.  The slip and slide had at least ten kids on it at any given time and there was a wet and wild kickball game that went on for hours.

Homemade slip and slide

     We purposely planned the event for early evening so it would be cooler.  The yard was shady and it was actually bordering on reasonable out there.  Our guests ate and chatted.  There were people sitting on the grass relaxing as the children played together without incident.  It couldn't have been nicer.  I was grateful for the weather that made this day possible.   I can't believe it either, but I was.
     The morning after the party I woke up stiff and sore from two straight days on my feet.  I got the children up and we headed to the yard to begin clean up efforts.  Socks and cups floated in the kiddie pool.  More cups were spotted mysteriously in the treetops.  It looked like the aftermath of a college kegger.  To top it all off, there was a pair of panties on the fence post of the horse's pen.  Now that is evidence of a great party!