A rip-roaring time was had

Saturday we celebrated Nathaniel's birthday at the venue of his choice: Jump Zone. It's one of those places with inflatables where you can jump and tumble to your heart's content.

He wore his 7 shirt and was so proud.



There was so much to do there, from taking batting practice:



To jumping with our babysitter, Anna:



To doing back flips:



To playing air hockey:



And of course everyone went down The Big Daddy of them All (this is Nathaniel's friend Camden and her dad Alan in the background):



Even some parents got in on that action. This is my friend Laura and her son Brant, who went down together at least twice:



Allie (Laura's daughter, Brant's sister) loved navigating the obstacle course and then coming down the red slide:



And my cousin Lesley's three sons were in attendance ... George Emory:



Branum:



And cute-as-a-button John Bart, who holds my heart in the palm of his hand. And on the brim of his baseball cap:



Although Nathaniel's birthday isn't until the 19th, I moved his party up a week this year so it would fall when school was still in session ... and we had the best turnout we've ever had.



The wonderful baker who made Nick's Lego birthday cake made us a Clone Trooper helmet cake for Nathaniel, and the kids went CRAZY over it. It was the most complimented cake I've ever had!



It was roughly the size of my torso.



I wish I'd taken a picture of how much of it was left ... we had maybe five or six pieces left when we got home. It was a big hit!


I WOULD have pictures of gift-opening to show you, but I was too busy writing down the gifts and givers as he opened them, encased in flop sweat as I elbowed my way through all the curious 6-year-olds to try to keep my records straight.

Seriously. I'm not that much taller than they are, and it was a battle to stay at the front of the pack. I'm lucky I made it out alive.