It's official, Matthew is 10! Unfortunately, I forgot to get a group shot with all of the party guests until the morning after - so the non-sleepover guests aren't in this one. There were 5 girls and 2 boys not pictured here that joined us for most of the festivities.
Let's see...where to begin?? So, people started to arrive - and while Matthew was insistent that he wanted the 'sisters' in on the party, in the early stages there was definitely some boy/girl segregation going on.
Once we had the gang gathered, we headed over to Mom's backyard for swimming and a cookout.
Next on the agenda was a trip to the baseball field, now we get some real co-ed fun!
Can you spot Chelsea doing a cartwheel in the outfield in this one...
Okay, none of those were great pix, but I wanted to give a little feel for the action. Here are some better shots from the field.
We brought the cake and ice cream to the field too. Here's Jono giving Matthew his first taste...
YUM!
How about some sugar rush induced table dancing....
And, what were those concerns over the boys and girls not comingling enough? Hmmm...
This may be totally inappropriate and politically incorrect, but a friend of Chelsea's sent her
this link just before the party, so she had to play it for everyone. They ended up going back to it over and over again throughout the afternoon/evening/night to the point that it became sort of the theme song of the party! Here they are listening..
They must have put everyone at the party's name in this thing at least 3 times, and it never failed to crack them up. Listen at your own risk...by the 6th or 7th time you hear it, it actually does become pretty hilarious - and I don't know why each time you hear it say a new name it gets funnier.
After we got home from the field and listened to Da Breakup Song a few thousand more times, we played 'Who Knows Matthew Best' and then Matthew opened presents.
Next we played flashlight tag for a while and soon after, the girls headed home (and took Chelsea with them) Everyone decided it must be time for what has become the traditional late night trip down to the elementary school for Capture the Flag. I stayed behind and cleaned up a bit - and enjoyed some time with one of the VERY understanding moms whose son wasn't spending the night, but who didn't want to miss out on the adventure. The boys finally headed home when the security guard who lives on campus came and shoed them away after close to 2 hours!
They started to wind down after that...
Matthew was standing guard in the kitchen.
And checking to see if it was bedtime yet.....ummmm...YEP!
I woke up on Mothers' Day morning to the sounds of 13 boys laughing and playing! While I was glad they'd all be going back to their own moms soon, and that I'd be getting Chelsea back for family time, in that moment, I was as happy as could be - hosting the boys and watching Matthew revel in the end of a great birthday party!!
