Melanie's Birthday Party!

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We threw Melanie's Birthday Party at Lettuce Lake Park on March 12. The day was a little cool, but it was a gorgeous sunshiny day. We couldn't ask for better weather! Harry, Maribeth, Linda, Dan, Mona, Becky, Camden, Luke, Betsy, Jason, Wil, Elsie, Bill, Becka, Wyatt, Ramona, Bobbie, Dana, Ken, Serafina, Kaleb, Amy, Madison, Alexis, Kaitlyn, Jason, Rhett & Amanda joined us. While Brian played chef, grilling the burgers and dogs, I played hostess by trying to organize everything and make sure everyone was having a good time.
Lucky for us, Linda was a willing babysitter for Melanie. Melanie was everywhere having fun playing with her cousins & friends. Brian and I knew we wouldn't have time to take pictures ourselves, so we were very fortunate that Linda, Betsy and Jason took tons of pictures and shared them with us!
We grilled some burgers & hotdogs - and made sure to have plenty of condiments (LOL Betsy!). Harry brought his famous macaroni salad and Dana brought her delightful bean salad. We had a few veggie & fruit trays as well - and sweet tea to wash it all down. A very nice spread, I must say!
Then we opened Melanie's presents. I didn't want to waste too much time waiting on Melanie to open the presents herself - she was fascinated with a doo-dad and I figured it'd take a long time to wait for her to open the presents - and there were a few eager helpers, so I made the decision (which I later regretted) to let everyone open Melanie's presents - one at a time. Well, that didn't work out like I planned... everyone tore through the presents at the same time, and with such eagerness, I got lost in the flying tissue paper and bows and I have no idea who gave us what. Lesson learned, for sure. So if you got us something awesome, and I didn't thank you for it, shoot me an email and I'll send you a picture of Melanie in the outfit or playing with the toy you got us.
We bought a CareBear birthday cake from Publix which everyone loved - especially with additional sprinkles. Star sprinkles makes the cake taste 10 times better, apparently. By the time we cut the cake & presented the smash cake to Melanie, she was already ready for a nap. Melanie didn't dig into her smash cake with much relish, but she did get a little messy. (Later we've discovered that Melanie prefers chocolate frosting and she'll stuff her face with that!)
After everyone was fed, the presents were opened & the cake was cut, the party began to die down - as they typically do. Linda took Melanie home for a much-needed bath & nap.
We're so grateful to everyone who attended, brought a dish/gift and helped set up, organized & clean up. We're totally planning on making this an annual thing - at Lettuce Lake - until the kids grow out of the playground. So pencil in your calendar and join us next year!