A Triple Birthday Bash

Until last year, in each year that we've had a child who had a birthday, we had a pretty big (at least in terms of planning and preparation, even if not in terms of number of guests) at home for each kid.  In 2011 we had Joshua's first birthday.  In 2012 we had Joshua's second birthday and Clara's first birthday.  In 2013 it started to get a little crazy, with Hannah's first birthday, Joshua's third birthday, and then Clara's second birthday.  Last year we had a party for Hannah's second birthday, since we felt the first two birthdays should still have their own dedicated party, but we had a combined party for Joshua's fourth birthday and Clara's third birthday (we still have a small party with just our family on each kid's actual birthday if it's different from the party date).  This year we decided to have a combined birthday bash for all three of them.  We settled on a fall-themed party at a shelter in Shawnee Mission Park.  They all had cakes at home on their actual birthdays, so we did birthday cupcakes for this party.  Gentle Hannah's breath was too gentle, so Meghan had to help her with her candle.
Afterward, everyone enjoyed cupcakes, and of course all the kids devoured theirs as fast as possible.

We invited close friends and family (including Joanna and Kirk who were conveniently in town and able to attend!), but our kids had started asking about their friends at school, so we invited their whole class.  We ended up with a pretty good amount of people.  We had a lot of food, including pulled pork, chili, soup, grilled hot dogs, and caramel apples
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Benjamin, with help from his Mommy and Daddy, was able to enjoy his first s'more-making experience.

When you're hosting the party, you often don't have a chance to really eat and enjoy it.  I managed to eat a plate of food while I walked around managing things and talking to people, but as the party wound down, I sat down to make some s'mores for me and Meghan.  The party turned out great, despite my last-minute setup.  Everyone seemed to have fun and enjoy the food (and the flashlight party favors were a huge hit), and the weather was also perfect: a little bit chilly so the warmth of the fire and the hot chocolate and hot cider was comforting, but not so cold that people were uncomfortable.  And the kids were able to celebrate their birthdays with most of the people who are closest to them, and they had a great time and loved it.  I'm not sure what we'll do next year, but the combined big party worked out really well for this year.

Gridiron Glory and Barton Baby

Jason Keeler had tickets to Gridiron Glory, which is a traveling exhibit put on by the Pro Football Hall of Fame that's currently at Union Station, so he decided to make it a group outing last night with him, me, Nick, and Tony, though Tony wasn't able to attend.  It was pretty cool, as we got to see a lot of things that are normally in Canton, including a lot of historical memorabilia.  Because it's in Kansas City right now, they added a lot of Chiefs items, including a lot of items related to the team's founding.  It was a pretty impressive display, especially for someone who appreciates the history of the game, which I do.  Someday I would like to see the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame, but this was a pretty good start.  Afterward we went to a bar to watch the Royals game, and Nick surprised us with the news that Cassie is pregnant, meaning that Macyn will soon have a sibling, which was very exciting news.

Forget the Alamo

K-State had a pretty good season this year.  Despite an early heartbreaking loss to Auburn, they then went on a run only to stumble against two Top 6 teams in TCU and Baylor, leaving K-State out of the mix for a potential spot in the first ever College Football Playoff (Alabama, Oregon, Florida State, and Ohio State made it).  But we still ended up with a good season and an invitation to play UCLA in the Alamo Bowl.  I met up with Nick and his brothers at Brewbaker's, a new bar in Lenexa.  There was even a former K-State football player at our table who played for Snyder and Prince, so it was fun to talk to him about his time there and about the two coaches.  Unfortunately, the game did not go so well, and K-State clawed back from a big early deficit but couldn't finish the comeback and lost 40-35.  The last game is always sad, as it's the last time we'll ever see certain players in a K-State uniform, and in this case Tyler Lockett, Jake Waters, and Curry Sexton were all players who had great careers who will be missed next year.