Happy 4th Birthday Will!

For Will's birthday this year, he requested a "water party". So, we had a dual lane Slip 'n Slide, a pool with a slide and basketball net, water balloons, the sand & water table and a huge outdoor easel (which you use the hose to erase). We had 10 kids come the party and had a blast! I was really worried about the weather (50% chance of rain was forecasted) but it held off until 45 minutes after the party ended. I was also nervous that the neighbor's moving truck (which was scheduled to arrive on Saturday) would end up taking up half the cul-de-sac. Fortunately, the truck didn't arrive until Sunday! So, in the end there were only 2 things working against us:

1. The spec house next door had an open house from 2-4pm Saturday (the party was 3:30-5:30). One couple came to check out the house during the festivities and ended up having to park at the other end of the road behind the 10+ minivans.

2. Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities put the water restrictions back into effect starting at 12:01am on Saturday morning. Up until this point, we'd been allowed to water, wash the car, fill pools, etc. on Saturday only (since our house number is odd). So, I intentionally scheduled Will's party for Saturday so that we'd be in compliance. Needless to say, I wasn't about to change anything about the party when I read about the changes in the paper the night before. We even got a recorded message from the water company on Saturday morning reminding us of the changes. So, at 6pm when we'd deflated the pool and pulled the Slip 'n Slide into the garage we braced ourselves when the utilities patrol truck pulled into our cul-de-sac. Fortunately he kept on driving and to date we haven't seen a fine or a warning letter.

Overall, the party went really well. The kids seemed to have a great time especially in the pool and with the water balloon fight. (a HUGE thanks to Ross for filling 300+ water ballons that were gone in under 3 minutes!) Will's big gift was his bike (complete with a light up bell and flickering lights on his tires). When we were putting the bike together the night before, I felt like we were part of the show "Pimp my Ride"!