Alphabet Birthday Weekend

David turned 7 on Thursday, and what a party it was! Our good friends, the Shavers, traveled 5 hours from Illinois to see us. They arrived just before the party, at about 6pm. The Rogers also joined us, and altogether we had 13 children ballooning about. We began the fun with an alphabet treasure hunt, traveling all over the house to find the next letter and a clue. When we got to 'P' there was a present waiting for David and throughout the hunt were unexpected Smarties candies, to give brain-power for the hunt:-) At letter 'V' James was stung by a wasp on the veranda (he said it felt like he was pricked by a porcupine). Victoria and James tied for first place. Renee won the coloring contest. And everyone had a balloosterific time!
After the kids were in bed, we played a game called Fluxx where the rules are always changing, and we stayed up far too late talking. It was so great to hang out again after so long.
The next day was spent mostly outside, exploring the yard and the park. We had a wonderful time eating a picnic lunch, and were graced with a parked car which serenaded us with some sweet classical music. We explored the trail by the pavillion and the trail by the lake, played in the sand, and eventually went back home to make homemade pizzas. The children watched Finding Nemo together and played Bible Charades. The adults watched Star Trek (which was apparently very very bad) and stayed up to eat ice cream and talk (again until Midnight).
The Shavers left after French toast this morning, and I am currently blogging to avoid my other responsibilities:-)
All in all it was a wonderful weekend with friends that we will not soon forget. Here are some pictures....
The kids were hard to contain, knowing that friends would arrive soon.