One hot party! (7/17/06)

The temperature on Saturday was 99, and I don't even know what the heat index was, but one thing I do know is that this is the last time we have a birthday party outside in July! I will have to do another blog about all the events leading up to the party, but today I'm just going to tell you about the party itself.

The party was scheduled for 10:00 am Saturday morning at Deanna Rose Farmstead, which is a good 20-25 minutes from here. I set the alarm for 7:00, and planned to leave no later than 9:00 because we had to stop and get ice for the cooler, cement blocks to which to tie the balloons - and I don't mean rocks from the garden, I mean specially designed cement blocks they wrap up in party paper so they can charge $1 a piece for them. I was driving my parents, the kids, and a carload of stuff to carry in, and Eric was taking his own car full of stuff. At 9:00, I was ready, the kids were ready, but Eric and my parents were sipping coffee, reading the newspaper, and half the stuff still wasn't in the car. Nobody even batted an eye that I was running around like a crazy person, screaming, "What are you people doing?! We have to go!" I swear to God, I wished I had a cattle prod. By the time I got everyone out the door and we finished loading the cars, it was 9:20. I was off schedule, and I was not happy.

I had the kids and my mom, and Eric was taking my dad. I stopped to get the cement, and Eric stopped for ice. I ran into Party America, grabbed the cement and jumped in the one line open behind a woman who didn't understand why they wouldn't take her debit card because it wasn't signed. Crap! Precious time wasted!

When we finally got out of there, we sped to Deanna Rose, and the whole time, I was listening to my mom say things like, "Slow down!" or "That was a stop sign, not a rolling stop sign!" Yes, but we were in a hurry. We got there at 9:50, and the parking lot was packed. At Deanna Rose, there is a parking lot in front, and a parking lot further away. We definitely wanted in the front lot since we brought the entire contents of our house with us. This is when my mom said, "I should have brought the handicapped sign from our car." Yes, that would have been helpful.
I illegally parked, stood my mom on the sidewalk, and unloaded all my stuff around her, with instructions not to let anyone steal it. Then I went off in search of a parking spot and luckily got the last one in the front lot. By the time I got up front, Eric's family was there, too, and we lugged in all of our stuff. The time? 10:00. We were there, but we were not decorated - no tablecloths, no balloons, nothing - because the decorations were in Eric's car. He arrived about five minutes later with the first two party guests right behind him.

I should say at this point, that I like to have the appearance of being somewhat organized, and I really hate to be late. I was mortified at the fact that people were arriving when we didn't have so much as a tablecloth out. Eric, on the other hand, looked confused that people were arriving since apparently he thought the party didn't start until 10:30! Aha! This would explain his apathy toward my attempts to rush him. I explained that no, in fact the party started five minutes ago, to which he replied, "Ohhhh!"

With the help of the whole family, we got the tablecloths out, balloons blown up with helium, party favors ready, and the party was on! By this time, I don't know what the temperature was, but I was sweating buckets. It was hot, humid, and I was running around - not a good combination. Stacey came up to me and asked how I was doing, to which I responded, "I am sweating like a whore in church!" I talk loudly, and my voice carries. When I saw the looks I got from a couple of other parents in the corral next to ours, I decided that "whore" was probably not a word I wanted to shout at a children's birthday party.

After that, things went smoothly for awhile. We handed out the tickets, and everyone dispersed to go feed the animals, pan for gold, ride ponies, take hayrack rides, and go fishing. Everyone met back up at the corral and we opened gifts and had cake. Eli fell into the cake while he was blowing out the candles, but at that point, I just found it adorable. Then, we opened gifts, and Eli received so many great things from all of his friends. He got a gumball machine from my parents, and quickly discovered how to screw the top off of it to just reach in and get the gumballs, and a new Wiggles CD that we've already listened to every time we've been in the car. He also got a guitar, and loves to stand on the fireplace and give concerts. This is particularly effective when cousin Emily is here to accompany him on toy piano.

He got lots of Bob the Builder toys, which are currently filling his sandbox, and a Hungry Hungry Hippo game, which I love, I mean which Eli loves.

Anyway, after the gifts and cake, everyone started to disperse, and after having brought everything in, we were now faced with having to carry it all back out. *sigh* We started making trips out to the car, and I came back from the car and looked around the corral. My mom was talking to Eric's mom, people were roaming around. Eli was drinking pop. But there was no Georgia.

This is what I hate about family events. People take your baby away, and you think someone is watching your child, and then later you see you the person walk by whom you thought was watching your child, yet your baby is nowhere to be found. I asked my mom where Georgia was, to which she responded, "I don't know - probably with your dad." My dad has asthma and is getting a pace maker on Thursday, so the thought of him walking around in 90-something heat with Georgia didn't strike me as a good idea. I kept looking around frantically, and finally about four corrals up, half way to the exit, I spotted Georgia, playing inside the gate of a corral all by herself! I shouted, "OHMYGOD!" and ran to snatch her up. She was happy as a clam, smiling as if to say, "Hey mom! Look what I discovered!" I picked her up and did not let her out of my sight the rest of the time. My dad, btw, was in the bathroom by himself.

When we got all loaded up, I took my parents and Georgia home because they all needed naps. Georgia, unfortunately, fell asleep for 10 minutes in the car to re-energize herself, so by the time we got home, she was up and ready to go. It took me an hour and a half to get her back to sleep. Eric and Eli stayed to go fishing. When they did get home, we taught Eli how to play Hungry Hungry Hippos, which lapsed into Eric, Rhonda and I playing Hungry Hungry Hippos while Emily and Eli stood back saying, "I want to feed the hippos now." "Just a second sweetie. Let me beat your father first." Unfortunately, Eric kicked my ass, but I maintain that our floor is uneven. At our next rematch, victory is mine!

So, that was our Saturday in a nutshell. I still have to share with you the story of picking up the cake, and our post-party dinner at Cinzetti's, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.