162 Crawford Birthday Bash

The Crawford family was nice enough to have clockwork children. That means they had one child, two years (and one day) later the next, and then two years later they finished off the clan. In fact, when Rick sent out the email to announce the impending arrival of their third child it was entitled "It's That Time of Year Again!" So, we look forward to the Crawford Family Birthday Bash each year. Of course, since they moved away it makes it even less likely that we will show up on time. Lucky for me, there were already plans in place to do a few things after the actual party because we pulled into the parking lot just as they were loading up to leave. Heck, we were even a few minutes late getting to McAllister's to eat. The computer in the van told me I had "0 miles until empty" so I figured it was about time to get some gas. Hey, it happens ... I was in a hurry to get to the party! It did cause me to drive through downtown New Albany, which is really quite pretty. There was a junqtique shop I wanted to go into called Re-Designing Women, but I was too tired when we were leaving town to haul the kids around a store.

We spent most of our visit in the park in New Albany with the Crawford's and the Bergeron's. . I think it had some really inventive name like "The Park on the River" or something like it. It really was a nice park ... well, if someone had thought about erosion when they built it. Some of the slides ended with a two foot drop off. The stairs to climb started a foot and a half up. It was not Connor friendly, which was probably a good thing. There were some board placed around the perimeter that were supposed to hold the mulch in place, but they were better at tripping little runners. There were leaves everywhere that made it super slippery. The adults claimed the "Sway Fun" and took turns chasing the kiddos. And as usual, my children managed to injure themselves. Connor took a tumble walking down the slope from the "Sway Fun" and used the concrete walkway as a forehead grater. Katie fell, I think tripping over those perimeter boards. It appeared much worse than it was, Julie was relieved (and a bit freaked out) to discover that it was not swollen - the protrusion was her hip bone. Mr. Rick chased the kids around. He is always the best playmate! Daddy Joe even took Connor a few times when he was tired of his Mommy. We had interesting conversations, that probably disturbed anyone else nearby. We saw more than one pregnant girl smoking. We laughed and laughed and laughed (although NOT at the pregnant ladies, smoking while pregnant=not funny)!!

The girls playing make-up at McAllister's.

Hey Joe, here's our bridge :) The Sway Fun and Connor's Forehead Grater ... I mean, the sidewalkMolly just LOVES playing with the big girls!! Katie was trying to be helpfulRick and Anna Catherine Walk softly and carry a BIG stick Rick was King of the Sway Fun! Chloe's sweet monkey feet Chloe's dirty monkey feet Connor wants to get to the big kids. Me and Connor on the slide. There has to be at least one horrible picture of me! Anna Catherine and Katie Molly was just SO happy to be included with the big girls!! This is Julie explaining that there is a "skinny girl HIDING inside!!" as evidenced by the "wrist test" I think Joe is trying to say "there is hair hiding inside" using the "forehead test" Katie and AC running from Mr. Rick I wasn't zoomed out enough, but those are Mr. Rick's feet jumping on the bridge. At least we had a back-up photographer!!Didn't I tell you that Mr. Rick is the BEST playmate!! Connor is either considering a career as a firefighter or waiting on the dancing girls.Molly in her own little world Mr. Rick and Daddy Joe stepping in to take Chip's place Molly loved Katie's lip gloss! She must have put it on five different times. This is Daddy Joe explaining to Molly that daddies don't wear lip gloss!Chloe, being forced to sit still. This girl is a monkey NON STOP!! A messy, messy monkey!Katie found a shadow! So, do you think it was a good idea to let Connor eat his orange cupcake in the van?? I was surprised to see this in small town New Albany, MS!Even the front of this building looked cool. Next time ... oh yes, next time I will go inside!! OKAY ... so the cupcake was not the best idea! But Connor did enjoy it! And if I had not had access to cupcake sugar rush I would have driven off the side of the road. And of course, Connor ended up going straight into the bath to de-orangify him! The Crawford Birthday Bash was a SUCCESS! Well, at least the part I was there for :) I just wish we lived closer so that we could see everyone more often! And Chip has promised that he will see everyone next time .... we'll see how that turns out.