Hot Air Balloon Sugar Cookies & a Birthday Party

It’s interesting what they say… those friends you meet in college will be your friends for life. Strange huh? Well, there are a handful of girls I met in college I’m still friends with. All the guys, we’ve really lost touch. And truthfully I had a handful of both as really close friends in college. Anyway….

One of them has recently moved to a town over from me. Really, it’s close enough I could almost say my hometown. So about a year ago or so, she was living in Fayetteville, AR. Every so often we’d call or text each other. Then one day I get a text message from her that is a picture of a baby and it says somethng to the effect of, I can’t believe she’s already a week old. Wait, hold the phone, WHAT!?!?

I shot her back a text message asking for clarification. She responded saying, oh did I not tell you I was having a baby? Um… no, last I knew you didn’t think you ever would be able to. And of course I sent congratulations!

So jump forward a year, she and her husband and daughter have moved closer to me. Like I said, next town over. Super nuts. Anyway, she invited us to attend her daughter’s first birthday party. When she found out that I was doing a cookie challenge, she said, I’ll order a dozen. She wanted hot air balloons. I said, Sure, I can manage that. Then I went ACK! I don’t have a hot air balloon cookie cutter, now what. Never fear, I figured it out. See above.

For those of you keeping score… that is 7 dozen/300 dozen complete. I’m getting there slowly but surely!!

The Birthday Party

So the day of the party, I delivered the cookies. When I got there, I left my camera in the truck. I noticed though, she was frazzled. Trying to make it all perfect while entertaining people. So I went to the truck and grabbed my camera. I figured, I’d take pictures for her. That way she had the memories, but didn’t have to figure out how to take pictures while entertaining, etc.

She was quite shocked I think and I laughed. I was like, hello, you’ve known me how long (the answer is 16 years this fall) and you know I love pictures. I’m telling you, there are a gob of pictures of all of us friends in college, before digital cameras were really a thing. Actually, she was with me on my 19th birthday and there for my first digital camera. The first picture taken with my brand spankin new camera was of the two of us. She should know.

I gave her 227 photos or something like that. I kind of felt bad… overboard? Maybe….

So this game… there was a grand prize in the middle of the ball. The person next to you had to roll doubles on the dice while you unwrapped. Every so often you’d get candy until the whole ball was unwrapped. There were also other little trinkets. Everyone really enjoyed that.

Then some how hubby and I wound up in a jump rope war. I have no explanation.

There was food and presents and cake and ice cream and lots and lots of fun.

That night when we got home, we realized my parents had gone to the hayfield to get a load of hay. Knowing that we could either unload it that night for my dad, or get up bright and early the next morning to beat the heat and unload it, we unloaded the hay that night. You know, just to be nice and surprise my dad.