More Birthday Party :)

After the Easter egg hunt crowd thinned out, we went ahead with the one party activity I'd planned. Marcus popped out of the woods dressed as Swiper the Fox, the "villain" from Dora the Explorer, and stole the birthday cake. Aunt Wendi was dressed in a Dora the Explorer T-shirt, and she led the kiddos through a series of clues hidden all over the park in a search for Swiper and the cake. At the end of the hunt, Swiper was apprehended by the crew of preschoolers, the cake was recovered, and it was time to sing Happy Birthday.

We tried to light candles, but it was too windy, so the group sang to Ethan and then Caleb. I admit, I wasn't too disappointed that the candles wouldn't light...I am not a big fan of fire and preschoolers in close proximity. Caleb and Ethan were both pretty stoic during the singing. I thought Ethan would be excited to be the center of so much attention, but he just studied the faces around him with a hard-to-read expression. Caleb generally does not like to be the center of attention, so his lack of expression did not surprise me. It was funny, though, when, right after the singing stopped, Caleb's good buddy Matthew leaned over and said, "Caleb? Are you happy? It's your birthday!"

Everyone played on the play ground a while longer after cake time. After all the guests had headed home, I took Caleb and Ethan to McDonald's with our BFF's, while Marcus headed home to work on a presentation. We decided to wait and open the presents after the boys had taken their naps, rather than at the party. After naps, we spent over an hour leisurely opening presents, playing with some of the toys, and even writing thank you notes as we went. Despite the curve balls thrown that morning, the boys' birthday bash turned out pretty well.