December 29th the SIM missionary guys and their older boys went on a 3 day/2 night camping trip. Ryan was looking forward to this maybe even more than he was to Christmas Day. I have heard stories about cliff jumping, rope swinging over the river, waffle ball, pork over the camp fire, a chicken hooked in the fishing pole, sleeping in the car, volleyball, back flips, and something about a mooning….to which Jeff quickly mentioned that he didn’t have to share about everything that happened at camp.
Yesterday was Ryan’s 9th birthday and I am sure he couldn’t have thought of a better way to spend it – at the river exploring with his best friends. Before lunch the guys loaded up their gear and said their good-byes. At home that morning, the other kids and I had been busy wrapping gifts, blowing up balloons and making cards and a cake for Ryan’s homecoming. Around 4:30 they arrived home (looking really worn out) with another missionary family. We sang “Happy Birthday”, eat cake and drank coke, and Ryan opened his gifts (all of which were along the Spiderman theme…thanks Grandma and Grandpa).
Since we didn’t get to do our “watch a new movie till midnight” tradition Christmas Eve due to the fire, we watched Prince Caspian last night till. Then we listened to the fireworks ringing in 2009…..we decided not to do anything of our own this time.
Today we had Ryan’s birthday party. He wanted a few of his Paraguayan friends to come over and swim. He also asked for a pool cake. I worked all morning on the cake…round cake with a hole in the middle for a pool (blue jello), a couple gummy bears were playing volley ball (part of my mosquito net and toothpicks), others were lounging in chairs (shaped gum) under umbrellas (wrapping paper and popsicle sticks), and still others were floating on air mattresses (shaped gum) in the water or sliding down the slide (gum). I am looking forward to making a few cakes in the states where we have all the ingredients I need and the decorations. When Ryan saw the cake he said, “Mom, you are so creative.”
At 5:00 the families showed up and the kids immediately went swimming. The water was out all afternoon (thankfully I filled the pool in the morning) and finally came back on for a half hour at 6:00 - just enough time to fill the water balloons. The kids played water balloon bowling and then did a relay race. Jeff grilled delicious pork and potatoes for dinner. Our company left around 10:00. Ryan told me that it was the best birthday he had ever had and the best he’d ever seen!
Water balloon bowling
water balloon bowling
Micah was very interested in the cake
Ryan's pool cake
co 2009 Amy McKissick
2 comments:
i think you are sooo creative too!!!
I am going to steal your "pool" cake design...wonderful! I promise to give credit, though. :)
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