7 candles

I've been meaning to post some pictures of Max's birthday party, which was crazy to have two days before our big trip to Utah but gave my family a chance to get together right before Christmas:

I'm not one to go overboard for themed birthday parties, but I couldn't resist making these for all the guys. Templars vs. Musketeers!

Max just adores my brother...

Opening presents. Although everyone still seems fairly subdued, the wooden swords had to be confiscated for safety reasons soon after.

Sitting down for juice and cake.

We had emptied out one of the storage rooms in our basement so we could have a little tournament...

...which quickly spiraled out of control. But, what else did we expect of a bunch of 7-year old knights ready to duke it out? :)

The attending princesses, who kept a rather low profile. Because boys are annoying and don't appreciate true beauty.

There you go. In my playbook, a birthday party ain't over until everyone's well-fed, happy and tired.

Mission accomplished.