Chillin' wth the Chicks

We have moved into a fantastic neighborhood with amazing neighbors.  Last year, we left a great neighborhood with neighbors that we loved and we didn't know if we would find that again.  We are here to say that we have struck gold, twice!  The big difference is that most of our direct neighbor kids are girls, instead of all of the boys in our last neighborhood.  Oliver may have been heard last year asking "where are all of the boys" but we think that he is adjusting to being surrounded by cutie pie girls.

Saturday, they found themselves heading to Kaitlyn's 4th birthday party and the invite said "wear your favorite princess outfit".  Kaitlyn made it very clear in conversation that the boys could come and they didn't have to wear princess outfits.  (whew!  Good thing.  That could have been interesting)  Well this Mama wasn't about to let her boys go to a princess party without showing up with crowns fit for a prince.  Plus, the invite said there would be water fun, so these prince charming's were dressed to get wet.  Mama had fun shopping in the girl aisle, wrapped it in a princess bag, rounded up the boys and we travelled all of the way from our garage, across the patch of grass and rocks and to their front door.

As we blew past this AMAZING cake; the crowns, t-shirts and shoes came off and the boys were in the back yard in their swim suits.

Check this out.  The cake is 99% edible.  The decorations are all frosting.  The only thing that you couldn't eat was the mermaid that sat on top.

Outside, there were even Gold Fish.  Some for snacking on and some for swimming around.

The back yard was turned into Water World: the Back Yard Edition.

The boys were fishing in the pool in 2.2 seconds.

Oliver wasn't shy to dive down the slip and slide.

(Those of us who remember the original slip and slide had fun reminiscing about how it used to only be as wide as one color strip, it was yellow, it was held down by metal stakes and you had to try to avoid those stakes and you slid down the slide.  Oh ya.. and there was no built in pool to catch you at the end.  You just sailed off the end and hoped to come away without grass burns.)

Nemo came by to say hello and treat the kids to a ride.

Girls or no girls in the way, Oliver slipped and slid the afternoon away.

Miss Kaitlyn was in on the slip and slide action too.

Happy Birthday Miss Kaitlyn

As the girls ate lunch, the boys inhaled lunch and were back in action.

There were FOUR boys, that's it.  One was a cousin.  The rest were girls.  Everywhere we looked; girls, girls, girls.

Until, the girls were busy with lunch and then the boys deemed that there was no time for eating, only water fights.

Even Kellan was in on the action as he pulled out his water oozy and cool dude shades.

All targets were fair game, even the birthday girls Dad.

What, What, What?

The Little Mermaid.

Notice, mostly girls.  The boys were busy throwing water around and showing it who was boss.

Eventually, the boys gravitated toward the mystery lady with bright red hair, but they kept a safe distance.  At one point, Kellan asked me who she was.  Apparently, we are a little behind on our princess movies.

Ariel read stories, which our boys love.  Then, it was time for face paint.  Ariel was awesome and painted the boys faces first so that they could carry on with their water fight.  Not to be beat to the punch, Oliver was first in line.  (we clearly need to work on "birthday girl first" manners, but maybe next time).

A cute story to share:

See the green skirt that Kellan is holding.  Ariel busted out some dress up clothes and she said that while the girls dressed up, she would paint the boys faces so they could go play.  Kellan was very interested in the green skirt and didn't understand that it was for the girls.  Even with his brother leaning in his ear saying "no, Kellan, that's for the girls" while throwing the skirt back on the floor, he didn't seem to mind and picked it right back up.  Oh, the bliss of being two.

Then... he turned around.

It was then that he was swarmed by a sea of princesses.

It was then that a sparkle lit in his eye as he realized the volume of attention that he was getting from all of the girls.

It was then that he may have realized that it's not too bad to live on a street surrounded by girls.

It was then that all of us parents wondered what was in store for their teen years and we thought about investing in some heavy door/window locks.

Ta-Da

Evil Pirate

Well, that's what Ariel called it.

I'm not so sure that he looks very angry with that angelic smile.

Next up was Kellan.

He was very patient and stood perfectly still while Ariel painted a his face.

Just like his brother, the girls swarmed and he loved the attention however, he didn't get the sparkle in his eye.  He hasn't figured it out yet.  To him, wearing a green skirt sounds like fun and being swarmed by girls is just another day in the life of being two.  Give it time, he'll get the sparkle too when the light bulb goes off.

What's this? Snarly Pirate Face to go with his Pirate Ship.

From here, the party carried on but Mommy had to run to another commitment.  Daddy stayed with the boys and they had a fabulous time.  There were reports or soaking water fights for all attendees as well as an amazingly delicious mermaid cake.

Happy 4th Birthday, Kailtyn!!

Thanks for inviting our two handsome princes to your princess party.