Kayla turns five with Jasmine and friends

It's official! There's no going back. Kayla's week-long birthday celebration is over and she is still five!

 It was a fun-filled, busy weekend celebrating Kayla's fifth birthday with five of her girlfriends. Her (and ours) first-ever, friends-only birthday party was a SUCCESS! (Let it be known that it couldn't have been done without Aunt Kristi and Cousin Caitlyn's help!) I was a little nervous knowing I had the sole responsibility for keeping six little girls happy, fed and entertained for two hours, but everything went so unbelievably smoothly. We had a beautiful warm sunny day, which worked out perfectly for the outdoor games we had planned. I pour so much emotionally, mentally and physically into planning Kayla's parties that afterwards I'm always so thankful it went well and also a little relieved and thankful that it's over, too!

Kayla requested a Jasmine birthday party, so without batting an eye, we jumped right into making this the best Jasmine party ever. It was fun to have Kayla's input and assistance along the way. She enjoyed getting into the details, and helped with making the invitations, menu planning, designing her cake, decorating ,and setting the table for the party.

First came the homemade Jasmine birthday party invitations:

Then, the night before and the day of, we started decorating for the party:

Bringing the balloons home!

Kayla was in love with these personalized balloons. She was so in awe that we could actually buy balloons with her name on them. She figured out why: the people who made these knew it was her birthday and knew to put them in the store so that she could buy them. 

 Addie and Kayla each decorated a poster board for the party decorations.

 The palace room

 The dining room

 Every girl had their own Jasmine name tag at their seat; the head seat was Kayla's

The morning of the party, Rajah showed up in Kayla's room with a scroll tied to his neck with a special message from Jasmine wishing Kayla a wonderful party day. 

It's Saturday at 11am? Well then, we are ready! Let this party begin:

 As the girls arrived, they each made a beaded and bell ankle bracelet. 

 The finished products!

Also as each girl arrived, Kayla opened their present:

 Caitlyn

 Asia Rayne

 Molly

Next on the agenda we moved outdoors to play Magic Carpet Ride! The Magic Carpet Ride game is a lot like musical chairs - when the Aladdin music stopped you had better sit on a carpet square, or else! The person left standing went into the middle of the circle as the Protector of Jasmine for one round.

 Here I am demonstrating the Protector of Jasmine role

 Run forward, walk backwards, skip, speed walk, hop on one foot, bear walk, crab crawl... it didn't matter, we tried them all!

Addie really enjoyed being the Protector of Jasmine; I think she held this job over half the game!

Running around in the heat makes you hungry and thirsty... perfect! It's time for lunch:

 The lunch menu: Jasmine heart sandwiches, strawberries on a skewer, SunChips, and white grape juice mixed with 7-Up. The girls thought they were sooooooooooo cool that they got to drink pop. 

During lunch, Kayla received a scroll from Jasmine that said Rajah had been taken and hidden in the backyard. The girls ran outside to begin their treasure hunt. 

 Stella found him!

 Treat bags were tied to Rajah's neck; one for each little (and big) girl

Jasmine and Rajah

Last, but NOT least, was the Jasmine cake and blowing out candles! This cake I was SO excited for! It was a beautiful and delicious cake!

Enjoying birthday cake!

We are thankful for such wonderful girlfriends to celebrate such a BIG moment in Kayla's life! It was a fun day! And we are thankful to spend the post-party with Stella and Sophia and Family!

Here's to a great year being five, Kayla!

Even Khloe got into the birthday party, too!

A table without legs is prime Khloe habitat for climbing! Just look at that happy face!

Just chillin' on the way to pick up balloons

Oh, a favorite! Balloons!

Oh hi, baby girl!

Endless Summer

(Princess dinner pictures posted!!)

We've deemed this our Year of the Endless Summer! Just stop by our bonfire any night of the week - we're out there - come join us and we'll toast you to the Endless Summer!

Sporties for Shorties kicked off last week and Addie and Kayla and Molly seem to be the oldest - and biggest - ones out there this year. Fine by me! The first two weeks they're starting with basketball. It's a little bittersweet since this is their last year for Sporties. I can't believe they started it when they were three... and now they're all five!We're all Sporties pros now! 


We've also begun private swim lessons at the YMCA with Nicole. She. Is. Awesome. We all love her, and especially Kayla, which is all that matters. Kayla is already becoming a better, bolder swimmer - in the pool and the lake, which is just what we're looking for!

On Tuesday night a local restaurant was hosting a special Princess Dinner Party, girls were to come dressed as their favorite princess and have the opportunity to meet a handful of princes and princesses. Aaron and Kayla enjoyed Daddy-Daughter time, along with Missy and Addison. They had a ball at their "ball"!

On their way to the ball. Kayla went as Tinkerbell.

 Tinkerbell and Tinkerbell!

 Tinkerbell and Jasmine needed a trip to the park

We wouldn't miss an opportunity to spend a 90-degree day at the beach! Thanks to Allison for inviting us over to play with Ryan and Sophie! The water was the ONLY place to keep cool.

If we're not on our patio having a bonfire, than we're in the boat. Don't ask us to make plans, unless you're inviting yourselves on our boat, because family boating time is our priority every weekend! We're all loving this beautiful, hot, sunny weather that we've been having! Cheers to the endless summer!

Cheers to this, too. We LOVE this for our endless summer, too.