A couple of Snowballs with candles wasn’t going to cut it for the twins’ first birthday, so Saturday was their big party.  Shae found a park with pirate ship slides and a “sprayground”, so obviously we had a winner (Hilton Head Park).  Shae’s parents and my mom came into town for the party and helped get everything ready for Saturday.  It would be great to say that everything went smoothly, but what fun would that be?  We all managed to wake up early on Saturday and get ready to head over to the park, but that was about where the smoothness ended.

Because we couldn’t reserve Hilton Head Park for our party, Tom (Shae’s dad), myself, and Lunchbox (wearing his best pirate bandana) headed over to the park about three hours early to grab a gazebo (hopefully) or at least a few tables (if all the gazebos were full).  As we pulled up to the park, it became apparent we had a problem: all of the gazebos and tables were reserved.  There were at least five other birthday parties going on at the park that day.  Apparently we weren’t the only ones who thought this was a good place to have a party.  It was too late to change locations at this point, so I set up a lawn chair in the middle of a nice open area and Mr. Box and I sat down and reserved our space while Tom headed back to the house to pick up a table, some chairs, and our BBQ.

Since we didn’t get a gazebo, Shae and my mom tried to track down a canopy to provide some shade (while I sat in the sun and got a nice sunburn).  I called Costco to find out if they had any canopies, but was told “canopies are a summer item, it’s winter.” Pointing out that we live in San Diego and it was 80 degrees outside didn’t help.  Eventually, Shae and my mom tracked down a canopy, and while waiting for them to get to the park Shae’s parents and I watched a guy next to us try to set up his canopy.  I really can’t do the scene justice, but basically every time he tried to put one side of the canopy together the legs on the other side fell off .  The fact that he his shorts were falling off and he was sporting a Hall of Fame plumber’s crack pushed the entertainment value even higher.  This went on for about 30 minutes until he finally got the canopy up. We were a little disappointed that the show was over until our neighbor pulled out another canopy and started all over.  Somehow, he learned nothing from his problems with the first canopy and was just as entertaining the second time. (Hours later, after several beers in an alcohol-free park, canopy-man would take his frustration out on the guy who was supposed to help him set up. That was fun too.)

Anyway, Shae and my mom showed up with the canopy and the cake and we got everything ready for the parrrty (get it..because it’s pirate themed…Arrr!).  Once everything was set up, things went pretty well.  We fired up the BBQ, people started trickling in, and the babies turned on the cuteness (not that they can ever turn it off). Before long, we were chatting and chowing down on dogs and burgers.

Once everyone (including the kiddos) was done with lunch, it was time for the cake.  We thought that Jack and Ella had fun with their birthday Snowballs, but that was nothing compared to the mess they made with their birthday cake.  They loved their cake, so of course they took turns smearing it all over each other and making a nice mess.

After taking the birthday babies over to play on the swings (their first time, they loved it), it was time to open some presents.  The little ones got lots of great stuff, but their favorite part was the wrapping paper.  It’s only a matter of time before Jack and Lunchbox start fighting over cardboard boxes.

It’s hard to believe we made it through the party without anything too disastrous happening, but we did.  We had a lot of fun, and I hope everyone else did too.  I’m sure the next birthday party will be even crazier since both kids will surely be running in different directions.  We can’t wait.