We celebrated Gabriel's birthday with my family after church at our usual Sunday dinner at Gigi & Hidy's house. I took a picture of the kids' table since they were all sitting there and Maya, Zoe and Paloma had just graduated from high chairs and boosters at the adult table to these new spots.
And this was the first time Eva used the swing at Gigi's; Hidy got it out of the attic for us just before lunch.
I realized recently that I have almost no pictures of our Sunday lunches which hae been a tradition as long as I can remember, which is crazy because Mom goes to a lot of trouble and expense to make this weekly meal and fellowship possible. We give her a hard time about trying to be the perfect hostess, but it is amazing what she manages to do week after week for a crowd this size. We wear her out so that she avoids cooking the rest of the week!

I asked the kids if I could get a picture of the four of them before they changed to their swimsuits.
Surprisingly, they were happy to do it.
What follows are some of my favorite pictures of all time.
I almost couldn't choose a favorite,
so many of them turned out cute.
The lighting isn't the best ever with the patches of sunshine.
But it's not too bad, I don't think.
This is the one I chose to be my desktop picture.
And this is the same one cropped tight as I have it on my screen.
David and I were both outside for this, but it went so smoothly that I thought, hey, I guess it's time to take them to a studio for group pictures.
Meanwhile, can these count for Eva's 2 month pictures?
I love how she just slept through the whole thing.
And I love how they love her!

Next, the kids went swimming.
Gabe jumped by himself and to Allison,
Maya wanted someone to drop her off the diving board to Bill,

so Zoe wanted her Daddy to throw her to her Mommy,
and Maya followed with that, too. They had to line up and take turns, the diving board was so popular.
Carmen got a few turns in, too. This shot reminds me of that commercial where the kid says to his mom, "Hey Mom, remember this shot of me that's still in your camera?" or something like that.
Maya also wanted to jump to Carmen.
Paloma has spent most of her pool time on or near the shore this year.
David was inside most of the time with Eva because it was so hot, but they came out for a bit.
The best part of the swim for Gabriel was getting to use his new water guns.
He and Bill did a lot of shooting each other.
During the festivities, Dad could not relax because he was trying to fix his fountain, which had been broken by a teenager (one of Lauren's guests) jumping off of it into the pool. Brian spent part of the time trying to help him.
I wanted to get a photo of Gabriel with the whole arsenal of weapons he got for his birthday. Danger to all who come near the pool with cameras or phones!

Next it was time for cake!
Gabe's cake was cuter in person than the pictures can show.
I got a cake pan last winter from Williams Sonoma that had 8 or 9 of these vintage cars. I gave it to Gigi to use to make his cake and suggested that Oreos might make a good roadway. And they did, but it made it hard for her to write his name, etc., and it's what makes it hard to see how the cake really looked in a picture.


Zoe is ready for cake!
Maya really wanted to help blow out the candle, but she missed it and was too tired to keep her emotions in check.
She felt so much better once she got to blow out her own candle on a piece of cake that looked like Hidy's truck, Ol' Blue.
Gabriel got the red sports car cake.

I asked Mom to pose with her Tin Lizzie cake and the picture she painted some 30 years ago of her Dad's car.
Hidy posed with his own cake replica of his truck.
Gabriel opened his gifts out by the pool: Speed Racer Legos and an mp3 player from the Happy Harris House! Legos are always a hit!
Quadrilla, which I'd told my mom about after he'd been mesmerized by it at Teacher's Tools,
and Allison's creative gift was a collection of Target cards, each worth money and fun to play with as well. Gabe picked out the game Mousetrap and a dancing Wall-E toy with his cards.
Eva reclined outside once there was a little shade.
I just love these socks--they were a gift from a former student, a yearbook kid I love named Ruby (which was on my name list in part because of her). Her mom hand-beaded them, and I was amazed to find how well they went with this hand-me-down dress from Maya (?).
David got these close-ups of the birthday boy that show how grown up he looks.
Buddy, we love you so much. My heart melts looking at you. I can't believe it's been 6 years since we met you. What a gift you are.