Block Party

Our neighbor, Jimmy

A few weeks ago our neighbor approached us with a petition to shut down our little street so he could sponsor a block party. We had a similar event back in August, but he said something about wanting to have a Civil War get-together or something. Okay, no problem; we're all about having fun. Turns out he just wanted to celebrate his birthday with the whole neighborhood. His date also coincided with a get-together that Meg had set up for Aaron and some of his friends to come over, hang out, eat lots of junk food, and celebrate his birthday. Having the two parties overlap worked out better than expected--they ebbed and flowed with each other, and the mild, rain-free weather made it all the better. Meg had invited about eight boys to the gathering, but we ended up with about twice that because of all the attendance at our block party--which was also helped by the special guest appearance of the sun.

The fire burned all day
and well into the night

I think the flyer we received about the event said the party would last from noon to five, but it went on until about 10:00 p.m. Even though Jimmy's children are grown, he brought in a bounce house for the neighborhood kids (although some of his grand kids did come over later). He also had loads of food and soda (even more adult beverages). We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, played soccer in the street, and ate cotton candy until we passed out from sugar overload--well, just Eddie, who consumed no fewer than six servings (that's all I caught him with). Despite all of this, I managed to watch the Civil War in its entirety.

Ian is becoming a fabulous model

You might find it hard to believe that the party continued well into the night without us, but after bathing the boys, reading them stories, and putting them to bed, fake Aunt Susan showed up with her boyfriend and we played Pit--deluxe edition!--for a while before they left to return to their home in Seattle. I guess we let Aaron play with us for a few rounds, but we made a deal with him that he could continue to play with us so long as he won the round, and the next round, and so on. He lost that first round with said deal in place, but what surprised me was how quickly he accepted his fate, said "See ya, I'm outta here," and made his way to bed, where he fell asleep instantly. I was the Pit champion, in case you wondered (and it wasn't even close).