Well, it has been a few weeks since I posted about my anxieties surrounding Rylan's party which involved a sleepover. However, the good news is, we did more than survive. It was a wonderful time and I hope the boys all had fun too. They were a great group of boys! The evening included, backyard tackle football, bowling, pool, "doorbell ditching?", and lots of food and playstation. The most pleasant thing was truly the boys. I enjoyed each of them. It was fun to get to know Rylan's friends better. Here are some pics from the evening.
This was taken at the beginning, just before the tackling began. A few boys are missing in this picture.
Rylan wanted to have a pinata. I thought this was kind of silly b/c at this point anyone of those boys could have ripped into it with one swing. Ryan made it harder by pulling it up and down...made those boys mad!!
Here is a late night shot in our playroom. Lot's of playstation action. Notice Caden in the picture below holding 'bunny ears' behind Caleb. That is pretty much how Caden participated in the evening but the older boys were so nice to put up with him!
Some of the boys asked to go 'doorbell ditching' around 10:00. I laughed and remembered doing something similar when I was younger! I tried to tell them they would get caught...too many boys to hide! After a while, I remembered our friend across the street was out of town. Ryan had been house sitting for him. I finally gave in to their request. The rest of the story went like this.
"Ok boys, one house only! But I have to warn you he is a grumpy old man. If he sees you, he WILL yell at you."
'Ok Ok. We won't get caught. We promise (as they jump up and down with excitement).'
The boys begin to make their plan, who will ring the doorbell, who will hold our backyard gate open, who will be the watchman, who is to scared to go, etc. :) I decide to position myself outside #1 to get a good laugh and #2 to make sure they only went to this one house. They ran across the street and rang the doorbell. Then they took off as fast as they could into our backyard.
"Oh my!! Did you see his lights come on?" "I heard footsteps!" "I think he is coming outside." "Hurry close the gate!" (remember there was really no one home!)
"Boys, you better get inside and stay there until morning."
"You are right, Mrs.Reagan!" And in they went for the rest of the night!!
I did explain our adventure to several of the parents as they picked up the boys. They laughed!! Most said, oh I remember doing that when I was young!
Happy 9th Birthday, Rylan! We love you and thank God for you each day!