Birthday Parties

At the time my family consisted of five children and two parents. I believe that is a total of seven. Five of us celebrated birthdays within a two-week period. 

Mom decided that we should each have a birthday party at least once in our lives. Having five children meant five parties to plan. She sensibly chose one year for the boys and another year for the girls.

The first year was my brothers. They were the only two not born in the two weeks. The end of October and beginning of November meant that for eight days each year they were the same age. Irish twins. I actually just found out that the boys and I are Irish triplets.

One brother had a party in which there were two teams. Each team was given a list of items thar could be found around town. The team who collected the most items in the allotted time would win. I no longer remember what the prize was. 

Then there was cake and ice cream for all.

Two elaborate parties within eight days... Mom was exhausted.

The following year was for the girls and our three year old brother. 

My baby brother was easier. Toddlers are only interested in cake and ice cream.

My party was a treasure hunt. Mom had spent the previous day hiding clues all over town. Each clue was a riddle that told us where to find the next clue.

The final clue took us to the park where cake and ice cream was waiting for us.

As you can see Mom did not do things halfway. The first year she made spectacular parties for two boys in one week. The second year she had three parties in a week and a half. 

She was exhausted. She had not planned well. So many parties so close together. She said she would never do it again. We loved them.