Dalton's Birthday

Dalton had quite the extended birthday this year. We were in St. George for Great-Grandpa Snow's funeral on his actual birthday but he wanted to be able to unwrap his presents anyway so we brought them all down with us. He opened them that morning in the hotel room. We sang Happy Birthday but that was about it as far as celebrating went.

Saturday was the big party day. We had invited 9 little friends over for a late afternoon party. I didn't have a ton planned when we left for St. George on Thursday so Saturday before the party was my running errands and planning time. I ordered a cake from Harmons this year instead of making it, which, on principle, I think is a waste of money since I can make one myself without much effort, but I didn't have a lot of time so I caved.

I tried to get Dalton to have a pirate party which I thought would be fairly easy to put together but he wanted a Star Wars party. So, I went to the party store and got a few Star Wars things. Then I made a bunch of light sabers out of pool noodles. We spent the party out in the backyard playing games that helped us on our quest to become true Jedi's. We needed to practice using the force so we blindfolded the kids and played a Star Wars version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Then we needed to work on our teamwork/cooperation so we had three legged races. Next we needed to work on our accuracy and aiming so we bombed the Death Star (Jeremy had drawn one on the patio with sidewalk chalk) with water balloons. The kids all seemed to like the games. We did take a break during the games at one point to have a little refreshment (snow cones). We also served them dinner (pizza) to take up some of the time. We had green Yoda punch and red Darth Vader punch. After pizza we opened presents and then had the cake. Harmons didn't have a Star Wars themed cake so I just had them make it space related and then I placed a few of Dalton's little Star Wars guys on top. The kids thought it was great. When they were all done, I told them that since they had all completed their Jedi training they were now officially True Jedi's and they needed a Jedi's weapon. We handed out the light sabers and they waited out front for their parents to pick them up while fighting with each other and trying to hit bubbles that Jeremy was blowing. They all seemed to have a great time. Jeremy and I were just glad that it was over.

However, the birthday celebrations were not quite over yet. Sunday, Grandma and Grandpa Snow came over for dinner and had a present for Dalton. He was in birthday mode all over again. It was fun to see him enjoy himself so much. I'm glad that the funeral didn't seem to affect his birthday much at all. In fact, they had a great time in St. George seeing all their cousins.

You may be wondering why I haven't posted any pictures along with this narrative. The reason why is that I am stupid. I had Jeremy pull out the camcorder in the morning to make sure it was charged and I had grand plans for all the pictures I wanted to take but I was so busy with the party that I didn't get out the camera or the camcorder. I was so irritated with myself. So, we have no pictures of Dalton's 6th birthday except for two I took on Sunday after the fact, with some of his presents. Here they are:

I did this with Holly's 2nd birthday as well. How is it that I find myself taking pictures all the time but I forget on the special occasions that I don't want to miss? Oh well, maybe I will remember next year.