Birthday Bash, Take 2

I had a hard and fast rule in mind that we wouldn't have a really big birthday party for Sawyer (after his first) until he turned five. The second birthday was celebrated with family friends at the beach and the third birthday was an impromptu gathering of our closest family and friends at the local playground. But, this year, he was so excited about his birthday that — for the first time — we allowed him to invite friends from school. We applied the most basic rule — four years, four friends — and so he invited Luke, Andy, Cash and .... you guessed it: Sylvia.


I wanted to have a party that was fun for adults too, so we turned it into a barbecue at our house at 4 p.m. and invited each kid's family as well. Everyone was to bring bikes and outside toys and we blocked off the street so the kids could ride around the neighborhood. Of course, we had to invite the neighbors, who are living here for the summer. They are semi-retired but their two daughters and four grandchildren are here and the kids have been playing together almost nonstop. The total invite list quickly crept up to 30 people.


Scott had a platter of pulled pork from his catering job last weekend that we froze, and he made a huge thing of vinegar-based coleslaw that was to die for. He also marinated and barbecued some chicken and made the best baked beans I've ever had. For the kids there were hot dogs and chips. I saw almost everyone go back for a big plate of seconds.


This year, Scott outdid himself on the birthday cake. To be honest, things weren't looking so promising at 11:30 p.m. on the night before the party. High altitude baking is a challenge to say the least and Scott forgot to add flour and lower the oven temperature. The cakes sank in the middle and fell apart coming out of the pan. But when I came downstairs the following morning, the outlook was much improved.

There was a plan.


And things were shaping up quite nicely.


The finished project, complete with handmade tootsie roll fencing:


And happy faces.

The sound of 30 people singing "Happy Birthday" made Sawyer happier than I think I've ever seen him. This isn't the world's best video, I was trying to do three things at once. But the moment when everyone sings is well worth the wait.



Scott serves up cake.


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