I am actually writing this entry on July 5th, but I want to start my journal with an entry for July 2nd - Jaden's 3rd birthday.

The morning was spent cleaning, preparing for they party to start. Luckily, my mom came over at about 9:00, so she could help us get ready. We're such procrastinators - we were getting ready at the last minuts, as always. Of course, it didn't help that I got a last minute project for Encapsolution on Thursday afternoon, so I spent 6 hours on Friday working on it.

People started arriving at 11 AM. Who came: Grandma and Grandpa Hewitt; Grandma and Grandpa Weddle; Auntie Linda, Uncle Chris, Krista & Molly; Uncle Erin, Auntie Lisa, Kyle & Ryan; Martha, Michael, Elizabeth &Anna Stock; and Laura, Ian, Iana & Heather Howieson.

I was a bit worried that the weather wasn't going to be warm enough to swim - Linda said that it was only supposed to get up to 76 degrees. But the weather turned out perfect. I think it got up to eighty or so, which was warm enough to swim, but not so hot that people who weren't swimming weren't comfortable. The pool turned out to be a highlight of the party. We were really happy with the way that it worked out. Having the pool atttached directly to the deck, is perfect - The people who are in the pool aren't cut off from the rest of the party.

The kids all seemed to really enjoy the pool. Jaden seemed to like it more since his friends were in it too. Normally, Jaden doesn't like to really go in the pool much. Mostly, he just likes to sit on the raft - we have one that dips into the water so he at least gets wet. We try to get him to swim with his water wings or with his tube, but he will usually only do that for a few minutes at a time. He doesn't like for his face to get wet.

Anyway, getting back to the party - all of the kids had lots of fun. Elizabeth, especially, REALLY loved the pool.

I let Jaden pick out the theme for his party. We went to the party store, and I showed him several different themes that he could choose from. He barely glanced at anything but the dinosaurs - He loves dinosaurs! So, we got some dinosaur plates, cups, napkins, etc. and my mom ordered a cake decorated with dinosaurs. Jaden was very excited to eat his cake!

After cake, Jaden opened his presents. He had LOTS of presents, and he got a bit restless opening them. After he opened a few, he just wanted to play with them. He didn't want to keep opening. It was frustrating for him to get so many presents and not be able to play with them right away. He got lots of toys for the pool. Some of the other gifts he got: an Incredibles RC car, a computer game (he loves playing games on the internet - he plays Sesame Street and Playhouse Disney for hours), two Rescue Heroes, a truck that holds matchbox cars, a bat & ball, a memory game, a matching book, and a bicycle (from Mom & Dad).

It was a long party. Scott's parents were the last to leave at about 5 PM. Jaden didn't get a nap that day, so by the time everyone left, he was getting pretty crabby. He spent the last hour before going to bed pretty much crying because his toys wouldn't do what he wanted them to or because something else wasn't going his way. Guess the day was just a little too long and full of excitement for him. But overall, it was a great day!


Scott, my mom and I ended the day by watching a movie. It was called "Rabbit Proof Fence" and was a true story about three half-caste girls in 1930's Australia who were taken from their Aboriginal mothers and brought to an orphanage. Apparently, back then, the white people thought that they were doing them a favor by bringing them up in a more civilized environment. I couldn't believe that they would just take children from their families like that. It was really heartbreaking. Anyway, these children walked for nine straight weeks - over 1200 miles, to get back home - all the while being chased by a tracker. Two of the girls did eventually make it back home, although you found out at the end of the movie that they got caught again (after the oldest girl had already gotten married and had two children) and walked back home again. Apparently, they were able to stay away from the authorities for awhile, but the oldest girls' daughter eventually was taken away and she never saw her again. It was a really heartbreaking story. Hard to believe that people really do such things out of ignorance and trying to "help".

Anyway, that was pretty much the day. Pretty eventful!