Happy birthdays

Man and the girls' birthdays are all within a little less than two months of each other.  Since we only have the girls every other weekend, it makes it next to impossible to do three different birthday parties and have them be anywhere near their actual birthdays, so we did a joint party yesterday.  It was great!  I woke up early and made cupcakes (two different kinds, since three different girls could never agree on one type of cake!) and after they cooled the girls helped me decorate them.  We ended up with yellow cake with raspberry filling and orange (referring to the color and the flavor) icing for our big girl, chocolate cake with blue mint icing for our middle child and yellow cake with chocolate icing (also Mom's and my favorite!) for our littlest.  I let each girl ice and decorate six cupcakes and the rest I just threw some icing on to get it done since we were running short on time.  They weren't up to my usual standards for cake decorating, but they sure were yummy!  I even managed to find a chocolate cake mix that was not only allergen free for me, but also dairy free for Man and our middle child.  And did I mention that it was DELICIOUS!?!?  I honestly couldn't tell it was wheat free.  I dare say it was better than the $4 cupcake Man bought me from Whole Foods as a treat our last weekend in Indianapolis, and way cheaper!

From there we headed to lunch with Mom and the older four monkeys (BBS stayed home with Princess so she could get a quick nap) and then to Mom and Dad's for presents and cupcakes.  On the way to my parents' house we stopped for ice cream and I managed to find lactose-free cookies and cream ice cream.  Our middle child was in heaven!

The presents were a huge hit (the girls loved everything they got and are still talking about it all!) and then the kids played for a while until BBS and Princess got there for cupcakes and ice cream.  The kids had so much fun together they didn't want to part ways, so after the party we all headed to BBS's house to let the kids jump on the trampoline and play for a while.  On the way from my parents' house to BBS's house, our littlest told us that she and Doll Baby get along well "because I'm a drama queen and he's a drama king!"  

Yes, that really is six kids on one trampoline.  I know it's not the safest idea, but they were all so careful and respectful of each other.  I couldn't believe we didn't have any issues!  All the kids took turns holding hands with Princess so she could jump right along side the big kids.  It really was great to watch!  They all got along so well and it was a great night.  BBS and Hubby ended up inviting us to stay for dinner and Hubby made wings and poppers for the adults and chicken nuggets and french fries for the kids.  It wasn't a very healthy meal, but it was soooo yummy, and now Man and I are talking about adding a fryer to our wedding registry!  We left around 8:30 and the girls were so wiped out they just about fell asleep on the way home.  Our littlest cried part of the way because she was so sad about leaving and our big girl told us she's so happy we live so close to our family because she really likes them all.  I'd say the party was a huge hit!