Bolton turns 4!!!

Bolton really wanted to have his birthday in California... or so he kept telling me.  I'm not sure why.  Poor guy had to celebrate in Utah with all his cousins.  We had a spur of the moment water party during the day.

The kids were eager to get wet, so they sat here while we set the other activities up.

We divided them into two groups, 6 and under and 7 and up.  The younger group played this game first where they had to use only their noodle to touch a balloon and try to get as many balloons as they can into the plastic tub.

While they were doing that, the older group was making its way through the giant web!  The object was to get through without touching any of the strings.

A lot of the bigger boys jumped through this spot.  It was pretty fun for them and entertaining for the rest of us to watch!

Then they switched... but no one had as much fun after that.

So we moved on to the next game, the classic water bucket fill up relay.

It was fun to watch all the kids trying to do it. Some of the smaller ones would forget to load the sponge balls up with water before running, some would drop them into the fill up bucket.  It was fun to hear the big kids cheer for their younger teammates.

Finally, we played some water kickball.  Kickball is totally a favorite for my kids.  They even (try to) play in our tiny odd shaped backyard.  So Grandma and Grandpa's yard was perfect!!!!

Homebase is usually a slip and slid, but we didn't have one and I didn't feel like buying an additional thing for the party, so we opted for running through the crazy sprinkler.

The younger kids really loved 3rd base.

Sweet sister moment.

After everyone tired of kickball we pulled out the cake.  Bolton wanted a Yellowstone cake, so this is what I came up with... Good thing he thought it was awesome!

If you need an explanation, the top left is one of the many awesome colored pools, the bottom right is a geyser and the graham crackers in the middle are, of course, the boardwalk.  Be sure to look at the Yellowstone post if you haven't.

 Dalton and my dad went at it with an arm wrestle, Dalton won.  I thought for sure my dad let him, but he informed me that he didn't.

Bolton's new hat from Grandma Jane and Grandpa Woody (curtesy of Erin and Cade) was a huge hit. He is such a cute guy!

The kids went back to having fun in the web...

...and pools...

...hanging out....

After everyone left we sliced up one of the watermelons and feasted.  We may have even had an eating contest that I may have even lost to this guy... he really likes his watermelon.

Bolton is such a fun boy.  He has the sweetest face and voice.  He loves to play with his big brothers. They've definitely passed on the Lego gene and he is just as obsessed with them as they are.  He pretty much wants to do everything that they do and for the most part they are cool with letting him.  He is becoming a lot more stubborn in recent months.  My dad made a comment that we definitely named him right at one such stubborn moment.  See his middle name, Alma, is after my mom's dad and legend has it Grandpa was a stubborn man.  But Grandpa was so good and if Bolton turns out to be half as Christlike and giving and fun and courageous as he was we'll take any stubbornness that may come along with it.

All in all, I think he ended up being glad to celebrate in Utah.  We had another fun event in the evening, but it wasn't for him... another post for another time.

Love you Bolton!  Happy Birthday!