Lessons in party planning

We celebrated Riley's third birthday a couple of weeks ago, and I decided this was going to be the year when I finally threw him a real party. Like, with non-imaginary friends and a cutesy, theme and maybe even some decorations here and there. We rounded up an assortment of slip-n-slides and kiddie pools and threw all the kids in the backyard. It turned out to be pretty fun, though I'm willing to bet the urine-to-water ratio in the big kiddie pool was a little iffy by the end of the night.

If I ever throw a huge party like this again (and that's a pretty big if) I have the benefit of this year's experience. Here are some nuggets of wisdom I picked up:

# 1- Cutesy-themed parties don't so much have a discernible theme if you forget to get out all the fish plates and cups that you spent way too much on at that party store and if you let your husband talk you out of buying some cute fish balloons because hey, 'We have to draw the line somewhere.' They also don't work out very well if you run out of time because you have procrastinated and instead of decorating your back patio, it just ends up looking like this:


#2--You should not expect your friends and family to sit on your un-airconditioned back porch for two hours in 105 degree Oklahom heat and be happy about it. Though, to their credit, I didn't hear anyone complain (you guys are the best). and we all had the added benefit of losing at least a couple of pounds from all the sweating we did.

#3--It may not be the best idea to offer to rent an 8-foot inflatable slide from someone you have never met on Craig's list, tell them you will have cash on hand for the rental and the deposit, and then give them your address and directions to your house. Especially when they show up looking like someone you might see on a wanted poster. Although in this case, I have to admit it really worked out for me (and no, I won't do it again.) I got a great deal and the slide was a hit.

Need some proof? Just look at that smile:



#4: Even if your husband spends two hours in the backyard filling up a cooler full of water balloons, they will still all be gone in just under two minutes.



Here's my fish cake, the one lonely remnant of the fish themed party that was sadly not meant to be.


Look at that determined look on Riley's face...the cake never stood a chance.





After the party when everyone went home, Riley stopped playing with his new toys for a few seconds to look up at me and say, "Tanks sooooo much for my burday party mommy." It was totally worth it.

Birthday madness

Thanks to a variety of private donors (mostly my mom and dad) Riley got a brand spankin' new power wheels for his birthday. Lucky kid. He has been begging to ride the thing non stop for the past few days, 110 degree heat and all.

Now that he's all practiced up, he has some major skills. He can whip that thing in reverse, maneuver through tight squeezes, and power slide on the pavement. We've even progressed to letting him ride it through some of the less-busy neighborhood streets while I walk beside him. On our walk last night, we discovered our neighborhood already has a resident motorcycle gang of kids who have electric motorcycles or fourwheelers. They had a drag race down the street last night.

I haven't talked to the other mothers about it yet, but i'm thinking we should get them all some bandannas, orange flags, black leather and let them roam the streets at will. They already doubtlessly know how to stop at stop signs and stay on the right side of the road.

Getting Fancy

Riley's toolbox, supplied with lots of tools courtesy of Gmom and Pop. He's been "fixing" things all over the house.

Great Expectations

Items that Riley has requested for his birthday:

1- A waterfall
2- A "weel wive" tiger
3- A space ship to the moon

Locations Riley insists he would like his party to be at:

1- Target
2- That's it. There's no suitable alternative in his mind. I think he envisions himself and his little friends running free and filling their carts up with all of the toys they can possibly handle.

Needless to say, I don't think I can live up to his expectations. Especially since his party is in one week and I have no idea what we're going to do to keep the childrens entertained. On a side note, anyone know how to throw together an absolutely magnificent birthday party in, oh, say a week?

South Padre

As promised, here are our month-plus old pics of Sea World and South Padre Island.

Let's start with Sea World. We saw the dolphins and the whales and paid $8 bucks for a glass of frozen lemonade. Why is it that frozen drinks always taste so delicious when you pay exorbitant amounts for them?

We hiked up the water slide tower and managed to convince Riley to ride down all by himself, as he wasn't allowed to ride on our laps. He actually loved it, and we made a total of 8 trips before the baby-faced lifegaurd--the same one who had been watching us the whole time---suddenly and arbitrarily decided that Riley was too little to be going down the slide by himself. Sam had already slid on down to wait for us at the bottom, so it was up to me to pry Riley's death grip off the slide railing and drag him, kicking and screaming the entire way, down the 500 million sets of stairs.


Highlights from South Padre Island:
--Our first sighting of real, live (i.e. wild dolphins). In fact, a few of them jumped only feet away from Sam when he was surfing. He got good and freaked out when he saw those dorsal fins coming towards him.
--Fresh seafood. Ummmmm.
--Fresh seafood. Oh, did I already mention that one?

Sporting the baby bump.

Then, we crossed the border and made the hour-long drive into Matamoros Mexico just to satisfy Sam's authentic food craving.

Ummm...It was probably worth it, even though I got a four-day stomach ache from drinking the horchata---which, as it turns out, is made with that water they tell you not to drink when you go to Mexico.

Yummy Mexican food=a very happy Sam

Riles wasn't so much a fan of Mexico. He was hot and tired and threw approximately 100 tantrums. All the natives were looking at me like I was the bad parent of a very spoiled American child (sooooo far from the truth) so I did what every parenting book I've read thus far told me to do.....Buy your child the first toy in sight to make him stop crying.

We ended up with the most ghetto toys I have ever seen in my life. Need some proof? Just take a look at this picture taken by my friend, Fig. Be sure and click on the photo for the extra-large version so you can catch the "Ambukance" in all its glory.

Fun with Glue

Tomorrow we head off for a week at Lake Powell, and I meant to post my South Padre Island pics before we left. But instead of doing it, I didn't. I know how much all of you are just dying for another McMurry family travelogue, but you'll have to be in suspense for a week longer.

Until then, feast your eyes on this: The Great Glue-splosion of 2008




I was busy getting some crafty supplies together to help Riley make a collage, and I made the mistake of handing him the glue before I was ready to supervise. I just assumed the childproof plug and lid would be enough to stop him from doing any damage. Wrong. Apparantly, if you squeeze those things hard enough, you can pop the lid right off and send a flume of glue up to the ceiling.

I made Riley sit with the glue dripping down his face while I went and hunted for the camera. Then, I managed to snap a quick pic before he accidentally snorted some of the glue up his nose and started wailing. Oh, the price we make our children pay for our photo ops.

The Reunion

Riley and I have now returned from our month-long sojourn of vehicular togetherness. Over the past two and a half weeks, we have spent approximately 62 hours in a car together. First, we rode with my aunt to Utah for a week-long reunion at my Grandmas house (which Sam managed to weasel out of coming to). Then, we were home for an entire three days before we packed up again and took a family vacation to South Padre Island. ANd the best news of all??---we are doing the Utah trip one more time in just one short week for Lake Powell. Fun times, eh?

Anyway, here are a few pics from the family reunion. Stay tuned for the South Padre Island pics. I'll post them tomorrow (or whenever I get around to it).

The Guitar Heroes


Riding in Gramps' convertible
Construction Workers


After a Hard Day's Work
Playing with the relatives

The Traditional Eating of the Smores

On the way home, my aunt and my cousin decided we were going to stop off at one of the random prairie dog towns you can buy your way into on the Great Plains. We paid $9 for admission, and our money bought us a chance to:

1- Step in lots of prairie dog poo.
2-Feed the goats
3-Take a gander at the only living, six-legged cow in the world. I feel sorry for her, don't you? Look how she's hanging her head in shame. "Stop looking at me already. I know I'm a freak, you know I'm a freak, why can't you people just leave me alone??"
4- See the biggest prairie dog in the world. I hate to bust your bubble, but it's a statue.

And while I was muttering under my breath the whole time about the ridiculous admission prices, Riley seemed to be having quite the grand ol' time. And I guess that's all that matters.

More of the Same

We went camping again last week, because let's face it: When you're poor and desperate to go somewhere, there just aren't that many options, especially in Oklahoma.

But lest those of you out there are thinking, "Great, another lame camping post," don't worry. Apparently, weird things happen to us when we go camping, and I plan to tell you all about it. Last camping trip, we drove all the way to our spot, unpacked our tent and discovered our poles were missing. Sam also got a ticket for wearing his seatbelt "improperly" and then we ended up in the middle of some sort of escaped convict manhunt.

This time, the campground where we stayed was pretty much empty. On our second night there, around 11 p.m. a truck load of teenagers pulled up and camped in the spot RIGHT next to ours. They immediately started hacking on every tree in sight with their axes. Around 2 a.m., we woke up to their music blaring and Sam decided he was going to go over there and tell them to be quiet.

When he came back, he looked a little flustered, so I asked him what was wrong. Turns out they were naked. And, well, doing the sorts of things that drunken naked teenagers do on camping trips. Anyway, I'll spare you the details but needless to say it freaked me out and the rest of the night I didn't sleep because I kept imagining they were going to come and murder us in our tent.
Other than some sort of hour-long, break-up brawl, the rest of the night was pretty uneventful and we took secret delight in letting Riley's hoarse yet still unbelievably loud little voice wake them from their drunken stupor at 7 o'clock in the morning.

This trip taught me two important things.

1- When it comes to camping, I'm in it for the food. Why is it everything tastes so much better when it's cooked outside? I made the best shiskabobs I have ever made, out of the two total times I've cooked those things during my lifetime.

2-I have let the TV become a surrogate parent to my child. All Riley wanted to do the whole time we were there was watch TV. Luckily, I managed to find some dangerously-sharp shiskabob sticks for him to play with. Do you think I kid? Here's the picture to prove it.
Riley kept trying (unsuccessfully) to bore holes in the rocks with those sticks. And then we used them to fashion a "Tower of Power" for the Backyardigans, so he could re-enact his favorite video, which we both have memorized. Then, he conveniently left the stick right under our tire, successfully puncturing it and necessitating the purchase of a new one. Who knew shiskabob sticks had so many uses?

More random pics of our adventure:







P.S. Oklahoma is pretty. I'm not kidding.

Newsflash

Drumroll please.

After my ultrasound today, the doctor notified Sam and I that McMurry baby numero dos is going to be a....................

BOY! (probably).

The doctor was 95 percent sure and I guess he would know what he's talking about since he's been looking at ultrasound machines since 1980. His office machine was on the fritz though and none of the pics he took looked much like a baby to me.

I still remain ever so slightly unconvinced about the baby's gender, mostly because I don't want to swallow my pride and admit my so-called mother's intuition was not so intuitive after all.

I'm having a second ultrasound in a week or two on one of the hospital's heavy duty machines, so I guess they can finish convincing me then.

Helping Hands

I am happy to announce that all those lessons about the importance of cleaning up messes are finally sinking into Riley's little noggin.

Observe: Riley's yogurt and cereal spoon, neatly placed back in the silverware drawer after use. WITH the yogurt still on it.


Maybe I don't really want him to learn to pitch in and help after all.

Big Rigs

Just some fun pictures from when Riley and I went to this big truck show in Jenks a couple of weeks ago. They let all the kiddies climb into the ambulances, firetrucks, diggers, semis, etc. and pretend like they were driving. Riley loved it! My favorite part was that they let any of the hundreds of children there blast the horn and turn on the shrieking sirens ANY TIME they wanted. No wait...that was the worst part.

Riley and Tressa, a friend from church.

Mmmmm.....Ice Cream.