Ryan turns 4

Ryan turned four this summer! He's getting so big and learning to be more independent. He loves to learn new things and has gotten in to some older types of toys and ways of playing as well.
I've never thrown Ryan a real Birthday Party so I decided that he was plenty big enough and that I'd do it this summer. It was really nice because I was able to do most of the planning and preparation before I had to back to work.
Ryan helped with the whole process. He got to choose who to invite, what kind of party it would be, where it would be at, what they would do. He even helped me with the invitations and soon he'll be helping with the Thank-you cards.
I took a lot of pictures and had a hard time leaving many of them out, so enjoy the post because there are a lot of pictures from that day.

Ryan and Evan waiting for the guests to arrive.

I got this sweet decoration box from "the-only-store-I'm-allowed-to-shop-at" and it was really nice because it had pretty much everything we needed and I didn't really have to put a whole lot of thought into it.

I loved these hanging decorations so much I left them up for a whole week after the party. Evan destroyed them of course.

Our table inside of the house. I should have put the gifts here so we had more room outside, but everything turned out okay.

I loved this Happy Birthday sign too. I left it up after I took everything else down.

This is the table outside where I put the pizza and food for everyone.

Evan with a noise maker. Luckily for me, the noise makers were actually really quiet.

Hi Evan!

Steph; Rylee's mom, our neighbor and friend, holding my niece Emry.

Kelly; my cute neighbor and friend, Sydney's mom.

Nana, chatting with the neighbors at the party.

Jess & Emry came to the party too.

Look

How

Fast my new camera can take pictures! I love it.

While we were waiting for all of the guests to arrive, we played this cute little cars game in the living room. The only real complaint I have about the day was that it was super windy. I hate eating outside when it is windy. Aren't his little girlfriends just the cutest things ever!

Maycee, Ryan, Sydney, and Rylee. Sorry Rylee you sorta got cut outta that one. oops.

The main event was the slip-n-slide. I got such a great deal on it since it was the very end of the season, but it took me four stores before I found one, and it was the very last one.

This is Curen.

This is Rylee. I think she was a bit leery of the water slide.

This is cute little Maycee taking her turn on the slip-n-slide.

curen

Sydney knows how these things work!

Ryan getting a bit adventurous with the slip-n-slide.

Charlie was a pro on the slip-n-slide.

After we ate pizza, we did the pinata. I love pinatas. I guess my second regret was that I didn't let the kids take a second whack before having them pull the strings. Anyway, they all got tons of candy and didn't complain a bit.

Here's Rylee taking a swing.

And Maycee.

Sydney

nice action shot of Curen

Look out man, that kid knows how to swing.

Oh and Evan had to take a turn too.

With the help of Grandma.

Charlie

So, I'd never seen this string thing before but basically you just let each of the kids grab a string and the bottom falls out. Supposed to be safer than hitting it with a baseball bat.

All of the kids eagerly getting their candy spoils from the pinata.

Evan's not sure what to do.

Colin was great at holding the pinata for the kids to hit.

Grandpa kept Emry in the shade. It was a nice hot summer day.

All of the kiddos at the party: Curen, Ryan, Charlie, Maycee, Rylee, and Sydney!

Oh yeah, two more! Emry and Evan on the ends.

Ryan opened his presents after the pinata. Everyone was so generous and Ryan absolutely loves all of his gifts. Even his new outfit Aunt Jessie. He really does love clothes as much as the rest of us do.

I got him a digital camera. Imagine that, your first digital camera at the age of 4! Fisher Price has a cute one. I was really wanting to get him one but didn't really decide until Stephanie told me she got Rylee one. I saw hers and my decision was made. He's really liked it too!

Funny thing was, the night before the party he was asking if he could use my new camera, and I was like, "no!". But I was thinking, "yes, I got him the right thing!"

Grandma got him a bike. He's so excited about it. He likes to ride it but unfortunately, I haven't really gotten much of a chance to let him ride it yet since we live on this stupid hill. He freaks me out when he rides because he's not too great with the breaks yet but I know he'll learn and I can chill out more about it.

Then it was time for cake, or cupcakes rather.

"Happy Birthday to you!"

Blowing out the candles.

The kids loved the cupcakes and they were so easy and super cute. Sam's club, if you were wondering- thanks Mom!

All of the kids trying to dig in and me trying to make them be polite. :)

And there you have it folks! A successful Birthday Party.