A Very Splashy Birthday

The day after Eric returned to St. Pete from Institute in Jacksonville, we had a birthday party to go to at the Dell Holmes Splash Park. The party was in honor of the first birthday of Ethan, the son of our friends Ryan and Amanda. We were so happy the timing worked out so that we could go to the party, and we had a blast!

Upon arrival, after saying our hellos, we got right down to business and took the kiddos a-splashing.

Poor Ethan got a face-full of water right off the bat and wasn't sure he necessarily loved it.

Ellie, on the other hand, was unfazed...

...and quickly took to doing it to herself...

...and to Daddy.

Rest break!

Loves it.

When we had our fill of splashing, we returned to the party pavilion for mingling and food. Amanda and Ryan did a great job with the monkey-themed bash, and it really was a lot of fun! They had lots of good food and drinks, and in addition to the splash park itself, they had tons of lawn games set up around the pavilion.

The happy birthday family

Before long it was time for cake, which Ethan dug right into. Best live cake smashing I've seen yet! Way to go, Ethan!

YUM.

Squishy cake fingers

Now that is how you eat a birthday cake.

Then, it was time for presents. As seems to be the case at parties with lots of kids in attendance, there was no shortage of gift-opening helpers.

Everybody get in here!

Ethan's biggest, fanciest gift was a Batman Power Wheels-type bike. Now, you may recall that at her cousin Santiago's birthday party in June, Ellie commandeered his favorite gift (a big toy truck) and made it her own, leaving poor Santiago confused and crestfallen in her wake:

Her face says it all. Girl's got 'tude.

Well, I am ashamed to say, it happened again. Ellie got one look at that Batbike and was all "YES. AWESOME. THIS IS WHY I CAME TO THIS PARTY." For a while, she and Ethan pushed it around together...

Teamwork!

Cuties.

...but Ethan couldn't quite keep up, and before long, Ellie was leaving him in the dust.

Gotta move faster than that, kid.

So, apparently Ethan moved on to other things, leaving Ellie alone with her prize. Eric then showed her it was more than just a push-toy.

Driving lessons from Daddy

She caught on pretty quickly...

Figuring out how to make it go all on her own

...although she kept taking her feet off the footrests and dragging them in the dirt as she rode, so we devised a solution:

Bam. Problem solved.

Our biker babe

The whole thing was pretty funny to watch, and naturally there is accompanying video:

VIDEO: Ellie learning to drive!

By that time, things were starting to wind down and the thunder was rolling in so we grabbed a cupcake, said our good-byes and hit the road. We had a wonderful time, though! Thanks for a great party, Ryan and Amanda! Happy Birthday, Ethan!

Me with the birthday boy!

The whole gang! Happy birthday, Ethan!