How to party like you are seven years old

When I asked Ben what he wanted to do for his 7th birthday, without hesitation he answered , "water slide party, again."

As there are 10+ children on our street we regularly play with, I limited him to only the boys in his class and his choice of 3 additional people from either after school program or a long time friend.  The result was 21 kids plus parents.

With the torrential rain on Friday I feared that the party would begin to look more like Woodstock than a seven year old's party given the amount of expected mud.  Luckily the party rental place sent a slide with a giant pool at the bottom so the mud was minimized.  We used the same company again, Inflate a Party of Apex, with great success.

My friend Eileen made Lego Chima cupcakes and designed several of Ben's favorite characters for several of the two dozen.  A very big thanks to Eileen for taking on our birthday among the many, many graduations and other parties she was committed to finishing.  If local please consider using Sugar Mama Cakes and Sweets, not only is she one funny lady, she makes mad tasty cakes.

Outside of having a giant water slide on a sunny summer day at our disposal, the best part was my brother Brian was able to join the celebration.  I promised him unlimited water slide racing once the party was over.  And did we ever.

My favorite picture of the whole day was captured on our last time down the slide.  Someone commented when I put this up on facebook that my mom was likely smiling down, seeing her kids and grandkids so very happy.

I had such a great time and know that the kids did as well.  While we were sad to see Brian leave (as well the deflating of the slide a full 6 hours after it had arrived.) I hope it was great birthday for Ben.  He assured me that a day of sliding and water gun fights = AWESOME.

Ben is going to all boy sleep-over party this weekend.  When I spoke to the parent yesterday, I commented she was a brave woman to host a gaggle of 7 year old boys overnight.  Her comment, "you hosted a water slide for the same group of boys in a rain soaked yard."  I think I'll raise her crazy and counter with an with equal level of crazy.