Today was Eli's 9th bday at the Park

So around nap time the rains started and didn't seem to stop. THEN at 4:03 there was a break in the clouds and April decided to give it a try...so we met at the park and FIRST took this picture before everyone got all hot and sweaty (little did we know that the young ones would soon be SOAKING wet with icing stained lips and teeth)!!! So here was the gathering...and we didn't invite a local preschool...this is 4 moms and all of our (collective) Busy Blessings!



So they played a little, then we did cake - check out this AWESOME Gator Cake!!! (not only did it look incredible..it tasted GREAT...moist and yummy)




April and I tried a few times to get our youngest together...but they were only interested in doing their own thing...Zane and Zander are just4 months older than Smiley! They definitely have more hair than he does! :O



And although the rains returned sooner than we would have liked...we hung out under the pavilion and the kids entertained themselves with a game of Simon Says! (do you see the deluge in the background, and Evan's GREEN lips...clearly he had some Gator Tail)

Then as we got ready to say Good Bye- Zander blew me a kiss!!!

We put Smiley back in the stroller and he tried to wipe his feet clean (yep- no shoes...left them at home in the sink- because I cleaned all the sand off of them before we left)

And this was the last we saw of Team Jackson as they dashed back to their rental van.

Sad that their visit was so short. Grateful for the moments we got to share. And WHAT AN AWESOME game to attend for Eli's 9th Birthday...GOOOOOOOOOOOOO G-A-T-O-R-S!