She's really SIX

Her real birthday was a little spoiled by the incident. The dun dun dun. So we saved the party for a few weeks later. She wanted a pirate party. I wanted a swim party so that I wouldn't have to come up with games. That part stresses me out and the summer had just been so busy and I was REALLY hoping to keep it simple. My friend, Lizzie has the most amazing house with a beautiful big pool that she was so kind to offer up for it... so we did a pirate pool party.

Last year, I was so concerned with getting some cute birthday party photos that I spent way too much time making things picturesque. Pretty sure Sophia didn't care that the bubbles were labeled or the cupcake toppers were matted. So I decided to take it easy this time.

I let her pick the friend-list and she kept it nice and small. We did pizza, fruit, pirate's booty, and cupcakes. Some of her best friends were there. We swam, Ross led them in a "diving" contest, and they went on a treasure hunt and found an awesome treasure box from Captain Blackbeard (he's a reoccurring story for our kids and might rank up there with Santa.)

It was perfect. Everyone had fun and was sufficiently sugar-crazed by the end. And I could sit back and witness it all. And I still can't believe she's 6.

Fairies and Pirates

We painted "fairy" houses.

And faces... thanks to some darling little helpers (some of my young women and activity day girls fromchurch)... thanks Brittany, Bailey, and Danielle!

Ross came just in time to tell his story about Blackbeard the pirate and his buried treasure... he lead them on a treasure hunt where they unburied the treasure box... I LOVED this part... the kids got so into it. It may have caused some tears since not everyone could see at the same time... but still... enthusiasm. :)

I love the fairy craze that's come with the tinkerbell movies. I just might be trying to encourage it in my house. But I just think they're so much cuter than the princesses... all sparkly and winged and sassy. How cute are these girls?

Happy Birthday sweet Mila.

Today was Mila's...

The fact that she crashed on the couch with a low fever right before added only a minor challenge. But we still did it.... hopefully I warned each parent like I intended so they don't read about it here... :/ But she woke up cheerful, came a little late... and partied like a fairy.

More pictures lata.

The Watermelon Party--- more comprehensively...

Excuse the lousy blur job. It was an after-thought.

Fruit kabobs, strawberry marshmallows, and far too much candy... they were supposed to fill the little baggies within the take-home bag, but obviously everyone was shy.... or smart.... because I'm left with tons....

Strawberry cupcakes with pink cream cheese frosting and chocolate cupcakes (Sheena's recipe with vanilla in place of almond) with cream cheese frosting WITH almond extract instead of vanilla (I don't know... just what I felt like doing) ... AND mini chocolate chips on top. They were supposed to look like watermelon seeds. The wrappers were SO cute when I got them in the mail from cupcake social... bummer that they get all greasy and dark after being used and aren't nearly as green. Oh well. Yum.

I think the straight-out-of-the-bag strawberry marshmallows on toothpics were the easiest and BIGGEST hit.

Crustless peanut butter and jelly on WHITE bread. I could eat these all day. It's like dessert.

I had some labeling fun in photoshop ... I saw a picture online somewhere with the "birthday facts" instead of nutrition facts and the upc label... thought it was a cute detail.

More labels... this time printed on adhesive paper. Do you like how I'm writing this like it's all no big deal for me? I don't really do cute/crafty--- this is a big deal for me. I will confess-- this was my all-out. Ross was out of town for a week to Alaska... so I had some nights to think up fun projects to make me feel all super-mommy.

Made the birthday hats with Martha's tutorial here. Only skipped anything that seemed too hard (like lining them) and used something cheaper and easier for the poof at the top (a black boa that I cut up). Brooke made this DARLING happy birthday sign. I made the cheapy paper one above. :)

Kai and Beau--- Sophia's cousins, came out from Orange County.... I'm glad they did just so I could get this shot of Kai's beautiful face. Seriously Brooke-- -look at that expression.

Nana and Papa came! All the way from San Diego... they trekked out with a couple of canopies for shade, and some serious helping hands. We sure love these two.

Oh yeah.... this is what they did when they weren't eating the endless supply of sugar. We'd been wanting to get one all summer and finally bit the bullet. Now we're glad we waited since it's usually 540 or so and it's on clearance right now for $270 at Target!

We got so lucky that the humidity disappeared about a day before the party and the temperatures dropped a few degrees... only a bit over 100 probably. This is the result. It's crazy. Some shade, water, and wind.... and the kids think they're FREEZING.

We didn't ONLY eat sugar... the less photogenic food consisted of sliders-- on those Hawaian sweet rolls which I decided are my favorite slider bun (there's something about a small burger.... they have my HEART), veggies, chips and artichoke dip...

PRESENTS!

She said it was "the BEST birthday EVER." so I'm taking that as a success.

She started Kindergarten today. This little girl of mine. I think that post will have to wait for another day.