Happy Day

The Wizard had a birthday last month, and the weather was perfect for gathering in the backyard. With just family (J&J plus the Laundry Queen and her family), we were already 17, so we figured it wouldn't hurt to invite a few more, particularly if they had kids we thought might get along well with the cousins. We had 15 pounds of pulled pork I barbecued, homemade barbecue sauce, coleslaw (a must, I learned, for pulled-pork sandwiches!), corn on the cob, watermelon, a garlicky-dilly potato salad brought by our friend Frank, and guava limeade mixed up by Auntie J. Birthday cake was red velvet cupcakes with (yellow) cream cheese frosting. Everything was yummy, though the cupcakes were overbaked (too much multi-tasking) and consequently dry. More importantly, the kids and the grownups all had a great time. Sadly, we didn't get any pictures of the eight-person mixed-age bocce match that made my night.

Cousin Rib II did a great job of playing with the younger kids:



Our lumpy lawn makes bocce particularly challenging.


Never has our swingset been so thoroughly utilized.


The Wizard is still working on the whole candles/blowing thing. I don't think I managed to have all three of them lit at any one time--the wind and the birthday boy were too efficient at extinguishing them!


Presents were mostly books, plus bubbly things and a puzzle, much, much appreciated. And of course he matched his older brother's feat of reading his birthday cards aloud (and of course we matched our feat of not capturing it on video!). I'm not sure what the Wizard said to get Rib laughing that hard.


Happy birthday attendee Big.