George's Car Wash Birthday Party

We have a lot going on in our little family, and I've totally neglected the blog.  I'm picking up where I left off, at George's Car Wash Birthday Party!

Maybe it's because we talked about his birthday party a whole lot leading up to the actual event, but George still talks about his party on a daily basis.  I have to give credit to my friend, Brooke, who gave us the idea of doing the car wash.  I am so glad she did- because it was the easiest and most fun party I've hosted.  There was a 90% chance of severe thunderstorms all morning, but we went ahead with the party as planned.  Now that everything worked out, I have to admit that the thought of having 30+ kids under 5 years old inside our small house was a little overwhelming.  So I'm super glad we were all able to be outside and embrace the drizzle!

As usual, I'll just tell the story of the day in pictures.

Here's the finished product of the car wash the night before the party.

I call this picture... "The Calm Before the [literal] Storm"

Saturday morning, kids started showing up, and went straight for the car wash.

My nephew, Rogers, kept his goggles on just about the entire time.

Everyone is figuring out the general flow of traffic, and people are pretty happy.

 Then we started having some traffic jams.

...and meltdowns ensued.

 Charlotte Anne was pretty pumped to get to have all of the sponges to herself.

I'm assuming cake was being cut during this picture, because you can tell that kids abandoned their vehicles pretty quickly.

 I can't get over the bows and swimsuits.

 Have I mentioned that George has a LOT of girl friends?!

 Case and point.

After a while, my dear friend Elise started doing face painting.

Birthday Cat.

 Auburn Tigers!

 Then it was actually cake time.  And we had a whole lot of cake.

 Our best attempt at a family pic for the day.

 George absolutely lit up when everyone started singing 'Happy Birthday' to him.  

 

He took blowing the candles out super seriously, too.

I gave my camera to someone, and literally did not see it again until everyone left and we were cleaning up.  I'm so glad to have these pictures, because the whole party was sort of a blur to me, for a lot of reasons.  It meant so much to celebrate George's birthday with our dearest family and friends.  I loved watching him play with his friends and cousins.  I've loved hearing him talk about his birthday party since then- because I can tell how much he loved that day.  But there was also a huge hole in mine and Clay's heart that Nan wasn't with us, too.  That bittersweet emotion follows us daily.  But the Lord is merciful to give us joy.  And there is so much joy when we are with George.  

So, Happy 2nd Birthday, George!  

You are such an important person to your dad and me.  We value who you are as our son, and cherish our days with you.  You are such a treasure to us.