Today was Rowans 4th birthday party! We had a lot of fun with our Luau party theme, and the feeling of summer was just what we needed on a cold and dreary January day.
Before the party the kids and I had made these cute little individual jell-o oceans, complete with a gummy shark "swimming" in each cup:
They were fun to make and even more fun to eat! In keeping with the ocean/beachy theme, we frosted the cupcakes with blue tinted frosting, and topped each with a gummy shark. I didn't manage to get a picture of those before they were all gobbled up!
We set up a little photo area and took pictures of all the kids in grass skirts as they arrived at the party - here is Rowan with her cousin Riley, and Killian:
And my pretty hula girl, all dressed up and ready to party:
Once all the kids had arrived, we sat everyone down on beach towels in the dining room and had them make their own lei's. I had bought a bunch of lei's from the store, unstrung the flowers from them, and cut up some drinking straws into one inch lengths. The kids used them to string up their own personal lei's, and they got really creative and made some beautiful necklaces - much nicer (and more fun!) than the store bought ones.
Next we got out an inflatable parrot and played a version of hot potato. The kids had a great time with this game, lots of giggles and screams as they each tried to get that parrot in and out of their hands as fast as possible. It ended up being between Killian and Anna, and Killian narrowly claimed victory and his prize - the big red parrot!
I asked the kids if they wanted to play another game or have cupcakes, and of course they chose cupcakes - what a silly question! In my hurry to pass them out, I totally forgot about putting candles in Rowans and singing to her! Luckily Matthew remembered, and we loaded her cupcake up with 4 candles for our big 4 year old:
It was a little top heavy :) I held it while she blew her candles out and everyone sung her Happy Birthday. She was grinning from ear to ear, even though it took her about 10 tries to get those pesky candles blown out!
We headed to the living room to open presents, the kids were all so cute crowded around to see what Rowan got. As you can see in the background, the overriding theme was Littlest Pet Shop, which made her *really* happy.
Our last event of the party was turning up the luau music and doing the LIMBO! We found ourselves without an official limbo stick, but luckily we had a swiffer handle that could pull double duty :) We did a line for the little kids, and one for the big ones, and the limbo began! The kids had a fun time going through, even though the littler ones didn't really get it. The competition between the bigger kids was fierce though - I loved this picture of Killian going under:
Trevor ended up being the Limbo king, and it was pretty amazing how low he could go...I wish I was as flexible as these kids!
Rowan said she had a great time, which is all I can really ask for. I am happy that our friends and family could come out and join us for Rowans special day!
Before the party the kids and I had made these cute little individual jell-o oceans, complete with a gummy shark "swimming" in each cup:
They were fun to make and even more fun to eat! In keeping with the ocean/beachy theme, we frosted the cupcakes with blue tinted frosting, and topped each with a gummy shark. I didn't manage to get a picture of those before they were all gobbled up!
We set up a little photo area and took pictures of all the kids in grass skirts as they arrived at the party - here is Rowan with her cousin Riley, and Killian:
And my pretty hula girl, all dressed up and ready to party:
Once all the kids had arrived, we sat everyone down on beach towels in the dining room and had them make their own lei's. I had bought a bunch of lei's from the store, unstrung the flowers from them, and cut up some drinking straws into one inch lengths. The kids used them to string up their own personal lei's, and they got really creative and made some beautiful necklaces - much nicer (and more fun!) than the store bought ones.
Next we got out an inflatable parrot and played a version of hot potato. The kids had a great time with this game, lots of giggles and screams as they each tried to get that parrot in and out of their hands as fast as possible. It ended up being between Killian and Anna, and Killian narrowly claimed victory and his prize - the big red parrot!
I asked the kids if they wanted to play another game or have cupcakes, and of course they chose cupcakes - what a silly question! In my hurry to pass them out, I totally forgot about putting candles in Rowans and singing to her! Luckily Matthew remembered, and we loaded her cupcake up with 4 candles for our big 4 year old:
It was a little top heavy :) I held it while she blew her candles out and everyone sung her Happy Birthday. She was grinning from ear to ear, even though it took her about 10 tries to get those pesky candles blown out!
We headed to the living room to open presents, the kids were all so cute crowded around to see what Rowan got. As you can see in the background, the overriding theme was Littlest Pet Shop, which made her *really* happy.
Our last event of the party was turning up the luau music and doing the LIMBO! We found ourselves without an official limbo stick, but luckily we had a swiffer handle that could pull double duty :) We did a line for the little kids, and one for the big ones, and the limbo began! The kids had a fun time going through, even though the littler ones didn't really get it. The competition between the bigger kids was fierce though - I loved this picture of Killian going under:
Trevor ended up being the Limbo king, and it was pretty amazing how low he could go...I wish I was as flexible as these kids!
Rowan said she had a great time, which is all I can really ask for. I am happy that our friends and family could come out and join us for Rowans special day!