birthday "boon"

today i had playgroup at our house with a belated maddie birthday cake. it wasn't really a birthday party, but it sort of ended up being one anyway. we had around 15 kids (and moms too) in all come over to splash with us outside. the weather cooperated too because it wasn't too hot out for those of us who had to supervise and couldn't benefit from splashing around in the cool (as in cold) kiddie pool or sprinkler.

we had a kiddie pool, sprinkler, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and sponges to play with outside and the sponges were a huge hit! they were fun in the pool, to use as stamps on the driveway, and even served as erasers for the sidewalk chalk. not bad considering it was $1 for six of them!

here are some more pictures from our gathering today:

and my pride and joy (besides madelyn) was the cake. i made it from scratch (icing too) and it was the first time that i had ever attempted that. why? because i am a glutton for punishment. i was up until midnight last night making it and then iced it today. thankfully it turned out pretty well. isn't it pretty? i wasn't going to have everyone sing (since it wasn't really a birthday party), but they insisted. madelyn couldn't have cared less about the singing or the cake. she just stuffed her face with the fruit in front of her - especially the strawberries. i don't think she even had any of the cake. at least the other kids liked it and they all enjoyed blowing out the lone candle.

one of the neighbors brought maddie a birthday balloon. now madelyn, like most kids, always notice the balloons at the grocery store or really anywhere we are out and about. and since she loves to ask "what's that?" she gets to hear "balloon" a lot. i thought that i heard her say "boon" when pointing at a balloon this weekend, but just let it go since she has been saying a lot of words lately and not repeating them again (for example, i was telling her "happy" while pointing at a smilely face and she said "happy" clear as a bell but not since). but today there was no denying that she was trying to say "balloon". here is video of her playing with said "boon" and if you listen closely you can hear her say it when she points. (i am sorry that you can't see her face since her excited face was so so cute!) love.