the boys' birthday party (& a gender reveal)!

We celebrated the boys' birthdays with a joint party in the backyard, just like last year! (Only a different backyard, since we weren't in our house quite yet!) We were so thankful for yet another year of a clear forecast which allowed us to have the party out back and let kids roam free and play in the water. We like to keep their birthday parties simple and more like a barbecue than a party: good food and friends, games for kids and adults, and cake at the end of course!

We set out corn hole for the adults, a sprinkler, soccer balls and goals, a water table and the kids were happy as can be!

^^Possibly my favorite picture of Reid!

Cake time! I made Jake's cake, a number 5 with a dinosaur theme (reminiscent of his 3rd birthday!), but I outsourced Reid's cake to our neighbor. Reid absolutely loves our neighbor and she just so happens to be pretty darn good at decorating cakes, so she took on the challenge of making a puppy cake for our little guy who loves seeing puppies (not getting close mind you, just looking at them!) He was so thrilled with the cake, even if his face doesn't reflect it in the picture. ;)

After enjoying cake, we did a gender reveal for baby #3! When I was pregnant with the boys, Deric and I always found out the gender during the ultrasound, which was still exciting. But we decided to do something a little more exciting this time and I asked a friend to help us with a reveal. We'd just been at the doctor for the ultrasound a few days before the party, so we didn't have to wait much longer to find out! It was definitely hard at the ultrasound not to peek though!

^^I promise Reid's not upset! ;) I was so shocked and I think Deric was too! Even though we'd had an inkling all along that it was a girl, I was still so surprised. And it was so worth it to wait a few days for a fun reveal with friends!

^^White balancing my camera totally worked against me somehow, sadly!

And then after the excitement, it was back to the water for the kids! A friend lent us their slip-and-slide and the kids had a great time on it, once they got the hang of *sliding* rather than falling. Such a fun party for the boys and I'm glad they were able to have all their best buddies--and cousins-- with them!