Birthday Party

My mom had the excellent idea this year to have Xiana's birthday party at the community pool. After all, Xiana's favorite thing to do is swim.... that and with a house full of guests my mom was none too thrilled at the prospect of having dozens of children tearing through the place with cake. So I made a reservation at Alf Sorensen and arranged to have her party there. I'd say my mom is a genius. It was the perfect place! It was inexpensive. They did all the decorating, cleaning up, and the party bags, and the kids got to swim as their activity which meant I didn't have to plan or execute any games. It was great! Here is Kacie and Kim upon arrival. They spoiled Xiana rotten!
Here is a pretty good shot encompassing the environment. There were 16 kids and probably as many adults. It was right down to the wire with the guest list as swine flu erupted in my ward. There were a lot of tentative yes-es and then definite no's, but in the end, most everybody got to come and Xiana was thrilled. Larissa and Xiana share a birthday so it was especially nice that she and her family got to be here. All week Xiana said, "my cousins come to my birthday party." She was ecstatic to see them.
Brian is so sweet that he drove all the way to Battle Mountain... and then all the way back so that Ekco could come to the birthday party. Xiana repeatedly asked for her to come and I never dared commit. This was a really nice surprise.
I thought it would be a piece of cake for Xiana to blow out the candles as she has had a bit of practice recently but...
She needed a little mommy help.
I can't believe how utterly spoiled she is. Her loot makes a formidable presence in my parent's house. In fact, she got so many presents that I had to keep half of them boxed and bagged up so that they can make appearances at a point when they will be noticed. Thanks so much to everyone. You were all way too generous!
Of course, just as Morgan wrote, Xiana really wanted to just play with any of the presents. She had little interest in opening them all without being able to truly open any. I think I like Morgan's idea of not doing the present thing until they get older.... but it sure makes it nice for me not to have to buy her anything :)
I guess Brian didn't get the memo that at a 2-year-old's princess party, you are supposed to wear pink! :)
I'd say she looks pretty content.
And her birthday wouldn't have been complete without a guest appearance by her uncle Garrett.
Next we headed out to the pool area which was chaos. But first.... my dad and I both donated blood the morning of the party. In fact, my dad organized and overlooked said blood drive. Interestingly enough, he made the wise decision not to consume any H2O over the course of the morning and afternoon. After most of the party had moved to the pool, a few stragglers stood behind cleaning up and taking presents out to the car. I noticed my dad sitting in the corner with a very unpleasant look on his face. For those of you who know my dad, you know that this is about as common as snow in August. I went over to ask what was wrong and he said he wasn't feeling well. Larissa sat next to him and held his head up and we chuckled at the fact that he was going to pass out. I went to get him some water, but by the time I returned... he was out. It was really hot in the room and he had donated blood that morning so we didn't really worry about it until... he passed out again, and again. He couldn't maintain consciousness and he was shaking a bit. Both of the 2 nurses at the party (I know, I plan for everything :) said that we should call an ambulance so I did. Actually, the situation remained quite comical. Although we were worried about his welfare, it was more a cautionary measure than anything else. While I was speaking with the operator he regained consciousness and humorously corrected my answers to questions. Into the phone I said, "he's 60" and he painstakingly muttered, "tell her I'm a very young 60." Then I said, "he has high blood pressure," to which he interjected, "but I take the lowest dosage." His funniest response will not be included in this post as I have been sworn to secrecy, but suffice it to say that we were all laughing hysterically. The poor operator probably had no idea whether I was serious or not as I couldn't contain my chuckles and the background was giggles galore. Still, she must have believed me because a firetruck did show up. I took Xiana swimming then and wasn't around for the rest of the excitement, but I'm told they couldn't get his blood pressure so they took him to the hospital. There he had a dark humored doctor that he found entertaining. She asked him whether he recommended to blood donors the same steps he had taken. She also commented on how ironic it would be to have to give him a blood transfusion. In the end she deducted that he was extremely dehydrated. We claim that he was jealous of Xiana getting all the attention. I'm grateful that he was okay, but feel bad that he had to spend the rest of the party in the ER. But..... the party was a success nevertheless.
The kids got to run and jump and scream and swim and play and laugh and do everything that every group of children should get to do every day.
All of Xiana's best friends got to be there and it. was. ridiculously. fun.

Everything went off without a hitch (well okay, so there were a few hitches, but still a blast). Even though it was so wonderful to be surrounded by family and friends and it was a birthday I will always cherish, I couldn't help but feel a tiny bit melancholy for all her/my friends in Vegas and elsewhere. There were a lot of ghosts present at her party and I know that many thoughts were turned to her this day. Thanks to everyone who did, and who did not make it this year. We love and thank you all!