Happy Birthday Ava and Eli!!!!!!!!

And so the birthday came and went and as usual it provided unending fun, excitement, and just a pinch of "What the ... ?!?!" But seriously, what could be more fun than having your favorite meal under a piano bench? Because Ava got to eat whatever she wanted wherever she wanted. And nobody got upset when she spilled her Sparkling Apple Juice 3 times. Yes, it was the start of a great birthday weekend.

Ness made Ava a Flower Cake. Well done as always. Ava blew out all the candles in 3 blows. Not bad for a 5 year old!

The theme for the party on Sunday was "Jungle". Putting the party together was quite fun, and the kids did their part to make everything look great.

I don't think the kids really appreciated the level of detail in the party, but the adults all were impressed!

A picture of the outside. Even though the party started at 5:00PM, it was completely dark. Actually, it was completely dark by 4:00PM. Luckily, weather was on our side. It rained Saturday all day and all of Sunday until about 2:00. And then the clouds parted, the sun shone, and everything looked A-OK.

The kids were told that Dumbo was carrying a huge basket of peanuts as he flew overhead. All of a sudden, a gust of wind blew the bag out of his trunk and the peanuts fell all over our yard. The kids scattered throughout the land and gathered them all up. The kid with the most nuts won a prize. A fun game.

There was also a pinata filled with treats. Again, the ground was picked clean!!! I'm telling you ... if you've ever seen hyenas take down a zebra in the African Savannah, then you have a good idea of what took place.

After 2 fantastic cakes, Ava and Eli seemed fine with cupcakes.

Something we learned about kids parties here. Even if the children are 3-5 years old, apparently in England the parents are expected to just drop off their kids and pick them up when the party is over. With almost 20 kids present, 4 parents took pity on us and stayed. That's not a good ratio people!!!

But between the balloon/bubbles activity and the trampoline outside, everything went smoothly. The kids had a great time and the parents didn't scream in terror once! A good day. I just don't know how Ness is ever going to top this one. And I don't even know if we'd want to try.

Again, Happy Birthday to Ava and Eli and a big thanks to everyone who called, sent gifts, e-mailed, and mailed cards to tell them how much they are loved.