This is Awesome!

For Jack's 6th birthday party, we rented the Wild Rapids, a monster 20' by 30' waterslide! It was a wild, crazy, hilarious, fun time!

So the day started off before the sun rose. Jack was so excited about his big day that he was up around o'dark hundred =). The slide arrived at 6:30 AM, only 7 1/2 hours before party time. The owner said he had alot of inflatables to deliver today, plus he didn't want anything to mess up a child's birthday party so he likes to deliver those first. I appreciated that, and probably would have appreciated it even more around 9 AM, a mere 5 hours before the guests arrived. But I digress...

I have never seen two little boys get their swim suits on faster! By 7 AM, we were going strong on the waterslide.

The inaugural slide! His exact words at the bottom were, "This is soooo AWESOME!"



Will slid a couple of times by himself and then a few times with Daddy. But he especially loved swimming in the splash pool.

By 8 AM, we had to drag them off the slide (kicking and screaming) with the promise of treats so that Brent and I could get a little caffeine fortification for the day. I mean, we were only going to have the slide for 10 more hours, so naturally, you can understand their disappointment. Children really don't understand the concept of pacing one's self.

Well, finally, FINALLY, it was time to get this party started! Our little friends arrived with squeals and smiles, and you've never seen so many kids strip down to their swimsuits while in a full out sprint across the front yard! And since this was a drop-off party, you've never seen so many smiling parents in a full sprint back to their cars! Ahhh, a good time for all!

And don't even think that the girls were timid little flowers! They loved to fly down the slide just as much as the boys!



Taking the turn!



The big splash!

That, my friends, is some serious speed!

And what I loved is that each child would have the biggest smile on their face when they hit the pool. They would hop out of the splash pool and scramble up the stairs for another turn. This went on for 2 hours! Brent did a great job as master of the course. I am happy to report that there were no injuries. He sat/stood at the bottom of the slide, would wait for the splash pool to clear of sliders, and then yell "Ready! GO!" for the next two. And these were the sweetest children...everyone listened, followed the rules, had the best manners. Just couldn't have asked for a better group of kids. =)

After an hour and a half of sliding, we took a break for cake and ice cream.

The Monsters vs Aliens cake



I could just squeeze those chipmunk cheeks! Jack told me one time that you turn your new age the moment you blow out your birthday candles. So even though his birthday isn't until Thursday, I guess he is already 6!

Then it was back to the Wild Rapids for more sliding!

Besides the weather not cooperating, my biggest fear was that everyone would slide about 3 times and then decide that was enough! So I had a few items for Plan B: water balloons and silly string. Thankfully, the weather was absolutely perfect and there was definitely no need for plan B. But because I had spent over 2 hours filling and tying what had to be close to 200 water balloons, we were going to bust those suckers! So after the party guests left, Jack, Will and cousin C had a fun time!

An ice chest full of Plan B



Ready, Aim, FIRE!



Who says you can't throw multiple balloons at once?



Watch out for Little Trouble!


Then the little boogers turned on ME!



"Noooo, don't get me!"

So I think it will take me until Thursday to recover, when we will have more cake for Jack's actual birthday. Because as Brent likes to say....In our family, we don't just have a birthday. We have a birth-SEASON!