I didn’t start out the day planning on having an iPhone only day.  I had planned on going out for my birthday lunch with my DSLR, but that was cancelled because Bradley just wasn’t well enough.  So he slept for the entire day, and I took Connor and his cousin Erin to a party at the fire station, and then we came home for some lunch and then my mom and dad came for tea… armed with my mom’s traditional chocolate cake.  My brother and SIL, and my sister and her boyfriend also joined us for tea.

The party in the morning had such fabulous photo opportunities that I whipped out the old faithful iPhone… and then decided to just carry on using it for the day. I’m really loving this phone, I must tell you… the photography apps are just awesome!  I love that even though the quality of the original photos are brilliant, that I can use apps to make the photos look old and grainy.  Really cool, and so easy to use.

LOL Kimo just wanted some of my dad’s cake…

The iPhone apps I used for the processing are CrossProcess, Camera+ and Phototreats

Bradley’s 8th birthday party was held at Boot Camp in Paulshof this afternoon.  Thankfully it stopped raining in time for the party, but the rain did manage to make the party uber muddy… which made the obstacle courses much more fun for the kids.  They had a ball, it’s such an awesome venue for boys parties!  They didn’t stop running and jumping and sliding and climbing the whole afternoon, and the “Sergeant” was so fantastic with the kids… and helped the younger ones such a lot!

It wasn’t only the party that was a success, the cupcakes were fabulous!!  It was the first time I’d got cupcakes from The Cupcake Lady instead of having a birthday cake (I’ve bought them for other occasions though)… and they went down a treat… especially the little army men which ended up being the party favours that the kids could take home.

The kids started by doing pushups… which made all the moms and dads giggle.  I just loved Connor’s bum sticking up while he tried

And then the Serge took them to get all muddy   I caught up with them as they were rolling down a mud embankment, and then they had to carry 2 “injured” men across a stream… LOL! The Serge asked Connor to be the one injured man… he couldn’t have asked a heavier child… those poor kids who had to carry him!

While the other kids were flailing around in the mud, the 2 self-proclaimed princesses surprised us all by trying out the cargo nets

When the kids got back for a 10 minute drink break, we saw how filthy they were already

And then it was cake time

Then right at the end of the party, the Sergeant made the parents join in for one final set of push-ups LOL!

It was awesome to hear the kids laughing and screaming all afternoon… it was the sign of a good party.  Thanks to all who joined us

Twins again I had a weekend of twins.  This time, I was asked by an ex-colleague of mine to take photos at her friend’s kids 9th birthday party at the Lion Park, north of Johannesburg.  Twins, Eloise and Chrissie, live in the UK and are in South Africa (with their parents of course) visiting family.

We had to do the cake thing quickly today (and they were the MOST magnificent cakes) because we had to go on a game drive around the Lion Park and then end off with petting the lion cubs.

What an awesome party for kids who don’t live in Africa… actually that’s a stupid statement… it’s awesome for any child.  I actually thoroughly enjoyed the game drive too, because we’ve only ever driven around the Park in our own car, and it was fabulous listening to the guide (think we’ll do that the next time we take the kids to the Lion Park)

The game drive started off spectacularly when one of the resident giraffes decided that it wanted to poke it’s nose into the vehicle, causing loads of squeals of laughter.

After the excitement of the lions being so up close and personal to the truck… we went to the wild dog enclosure and the cheetah enclosure… where the animals were more sedate

Chrissie got completely excited though (more than with the lions) when she spotted the meerkats .  Apparently her entire room is themed with meerkats, so this was such a treat for her.  It was the first time she’d actually seen them IRL.

And then we reached the front of the long queue… and petted the lion cubs for a bit

LOL I just love this shot

It was definitely a party that they’ll always remember.

I’ve put more photos on my Facebook Page so go there, “Like” it and make some comments

I’m a day late with this post… Connor’s actual birthday was yesterday, and I got to my parent’s house just in time for tea and my mom’s famous chocolate cake, which was so delicious!

He got a birthday crown from school and wore it most of the afternoon too.

He’s so pleased about finally being 4… I can’t tell you how many times he’s mentioning his age!! Too cute!!

It was Connor’s 4th birthday party today, and we held it at home.  It’s been a long day and I’m pretty exhausted, but blogging my days photos is my routine so it has to be done!! It was quite a party too… with the most awesome cake made by my mom, a wicked waterslide… and ambulances and paramedics!!

Yes, you read that right.  It was a pool party and the theme was Fire Engines.  Connor is hooked on anything with sirens and lights, and dearly wanted a party at the firestation, but the one close to us doesn’t do parties anymore.  So instead, we had the party at home with a waterslide… also water themed.  Well, his dream of sirens and lights at his party came true anyway, when one of our friend’s kids were taken to the hospital after a pool accident!

First though, the cake.  My mom made such an amazing cake that had all the kids fascinated, and in fact, some of them started playing with the cake after the candles were blown out.  She had a ball using Lego as well as dinky fire trucks and response cars to create a story.  She used liquorice as roads, jelly babies as spectators (or rubbernecks as my brother called them), Lego fireman with extinguishes to blow out the candles (the fire); she even had a fire pole in the station house that she built!!

Ooh and we had cupcakes from Angel!! I ordered Strawberry Daiquiri cupcakes and red velvet with cream cheese topping.  They went down a treat!

And then Ethan had an accident.  One of the kids jumped in the pool and landed on top of him.  Lance noticed the other child come to the surface, but not Ethan… so he dived in to get him.  Thank God Lance was watching – he did however ruin his 1 week old Blackberry Torch in the process though.  Ethan lost consciousness for a few seconds, and thankfully my brother and sister-in-law were there to check him out (they’re both paramedics) after he was brought out of the pool.  They checked him out properly, then called ER24 to take him to hospital to have spine x-rays and CT scans.  He’s fine though… in hospital for observation overnight because he has swelling on his spine.   Such a downer for his parents though, who had tickets to the U2 concert!

All the kids thought it was fantastic though… that there was an ambulance and lights and paramedics etc!! LOL!  Not a nice thing to happen at a party.

And then it was time to cut the cake…

And then for another hit of the afternoon… a pinata in the shape of a firetruck!!

Cake:  Mom

Cupcakes:  The Cupcake Lady

Pinata:  Cheryl from It’s about Parties

Waterslide: Whatalotofun

Blogged as part of Frog Ponds Rock’s Sunday Selection