Tween Birthdays and the Aunties that attend them

It's a weekend, so there must be at least ONE birthday party going on. This time it's the tween, or as I like to call her...the future Mrs. Joe Jonas. We start the party off with a few random snapshots:

some enforced "quality time" for new siblings:

a cousin gets to see her newest cousin!

Grandma tending another babe in arms:

a first smile, at three weeks (looking at her daddy, of course)!

a gaggle of girl cousins, posing nicely:

and, of course, this one with the damn tongue:

The newly crowned tween could wait no longer...presents MUST be opened:
Cash is ALWAYS a winner!
Now, here is where things get fun. Once the kids get past the 10 year mark, all gift giving bets are off. I have been threatening to buy them underwear as their gift for years. She is officially past the "instant crying reaction" stage, so I set her up with the expectation that there was NO WAY IN HELL AUNTIE WOULD STOOP TO BUYING SOME DUMB ASS DISNEY SING IT PS3 GAME.

and then I bought some underwear...and wrapped the gift...and waited...

and her good humor and patience resulted in THE REVEAL:

Yes, Auntie had stooped to a new low and purchased the Disney Sing It PS3 game. I was so embarrassed buying it I felt like asking the clerk to wrap it in a brown paper bag.

On to cake! My sister's friend makes awesome cakes, and this one was no exception!

uh, that's a microphone. Stop staring at it.

A good cake was enjoyed by all:
well, almost all:

Then it was on to the trauma of having to watch the kids rev up the Disney Sing it Game:

it started out OK:Then all hell broke loose:

After the party wound down, and assorted guests had gathered up their bags o crap and headed home...it was time to take some new portraits of the Tween:

This next photo makes her look like a dog though:
HAHAHAHAHAHA - OK, maybe not.

This next one is my favorite:

I noticed the baby had the whole hair standing up on back of head look going on...and accused her of copying the "Gosselin":

a couple more of the newest niece:
and as party favors, the kids got their Halloween gift bags from their Auntie:
WARNING: this last image may be disturbing to some viewers:

Fall Frolics with Freaks

Assembling all the "auntie" courage I could muster, I gathered up a motley assortment of nieces and nephews today and headed out for pumpkins, lunch and shopping. First stop, the local pumpkin patch ('cause while Safeway is cheaper, the atmosphere of fall is somewhat lacking there):

Here are the kids, all raring to go:

Their excitement knew no bounds. For pumpkins? Not quite. Not when there was a motley assortment of sketchy looking, built overnight, slightly sagging jumping houses, slides and such to climb all over. I made the kids all sign a "It's not Auntie's Fault if I break a bone" waiver and then let them at it:

This next shot I like to call...good god, someone is going to get hurt:

The rare and elusive caged baby:

The 15 month old, who was somewhat of a slug during last year's visit, caught on quickly: Here she is last year:

After 30 minutes of PAID FOR spaz out jump time, they were ready for pumpkin picking!

Good Lord...this is her only a year ago (you'll note the tongue action is the same)!

Here is a photo of the kids with their selections. Please note, in the circled area, just how much spaz out jump time cost us...5 kids...30 minutes...do the math:

One more shot with the littlest pumpkins before they were picked up and taken home while the rest of us lunched and shopped:After a fine diner meal of burgers, shakes, floats, fries, onion rings, DP and so on...we headed over to Old Navy. I spotted these pretty awesome hoodies for the kids, and plunked down some coin to snatch them up. We then headed to the beach for some artsy shots:

4 out of 5 kids recommend the usage of vampire teeth before flossing.

a skipping skeleton:

We also went to the "Spirit Store" - a Halloween haven for adults and kids alike. Making our way through mangled body parts, wigs of many colors (I found the Gosselin wig!), bubbles filled with smoke (?!), costumes that would make grandmothers blush, and a wild assortment of party favors, we managed to find a couple of things for the little pumpkins we left behind:

Sadly, the ten year isn't using the pacifier in the next shot:

Then we headed home to torture the toddler by trying on the Old Navy baby costume:

and here are some newer shots of the newest niece:

after all this excitement, auntie went home, cracked open a DP and passed out on the couch.