The Lee Family: August 2016

Since the girls ended up swimming until after 8pm on Saturday and CK and I were busy taking down decorations and cleaning up after the party, we waited until Sunday afternoon for Olivia to open her gifts. She was so excited to get started and while I took her photo with all of her presents behind her, Sofia told her she wanted her to open her gift first. I wasn't exactly sure what Sofia was going to give her, since we gave Olivia her birthday gift of the mermaid fin and matching bikini when Sofia opened her gifts a month ago. I should have had Sofia make or get a gift for her sister, but I'd been so preoccupied with the party preparations that I never thought about it. Sofia trotted off and returned a minute later with her hands behind her back. She gave Olivia the treasure chest that she'd painted the day before and then added glitter and a really pretty shell inside. It was so thoughtful and Olivia loved it.

After she opened her shell, she sat on the couch with Sofia and I brought her presents to open as CK took notes on what she got. She got some great gifts and loved opening them all. Olivia is a lot like Sofia in that she takes her time opening each gift and enjoys looking at everything she gets without rushing through it all. From her friend Evan she got an Ariel doll and a butterfly melty bead set, Conor gave her a Lego Friends airplane set and an "O" notepad, Antonio and Luca gave her kinetic sand and aqua beads, Hannah gave her a jigsaw puzzle set, a sticker coloring book and a Rat-a-Tat Cat game, Nicole gave her a My Little Pony play set and a body wash sampler set, Sian and her family sent a Twinkle the Tooth Fairy Book, a My Little Pony set and a fairy costume and crown, Aunt and Uncle sent her How to Babysit a Grandma book and a headband making kit, and Mitzi and Harley gave each girl a birthday card and $20 each. Aunt and Uncle also sent Sofia the new Land of Stories book and Carcassonne game as a belated birthday present.

After she finished opening her presents she and Sofia opened up the Lego Friends airplane set and Sofia helped her build it. Meanwhile, Olivia opened up her new Ariel doll and kinetic sand set and played with them both. After the airplane was finished, they opened both of the My Little Pony sets and played together and also decided which body wash they planned to use in the shower that night. They enjoyed playing with all of Olivia's new toys so much.

Olivia and all of her birthday gifts

Opening the handmade present from Sofia

Sweet sisters

Opening Conor's gift

Opening the gifts from Antonio and Luca

My Little Pony and body washes from Nicole!

Someone loves My Little Pony!

Writing thank you notes..

We haven't held a "real" birthday party for Olivia yet since I feel like we've always done a huge party for Sofia that has sapped all my desire to throw another one a month later. Plus, while she was so young it just didn't seem like it mattered to her very much since birthday parties at 2 or 3 years old are more for the parents "surviving another milestone" than for the kid. Last year, I planned to throw a mermaid-themed birthday party and painted a mermaid cut-out on poster board for her friends to pose with. However, we headed down to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Florida for 10 days and they decorated the dining room table, had presents and cupcakes and she felt like that was "her birthday party." We just went with it since she was happy!

So, this year I finally decided I really had to throw her a fun birthday party since turning 5 is sort of a big deal. I remember when Sofia turned 5 it was really difficult for me to know she'd be starting school and we wouldn't be spending very much time together. I had been keeping mermaid-themed birthday party ideas on my Pinterest for months and finally decided to get started on the birthday planning on Wednesday morning. I stopped at Dollar Tree as well as Party City (which are conveniently next door to each other) and picked up all the things I'd need to decorate. I also visited Michael's for small wood chests, paint brushes and paint for each kiddo to paint their own treasure chest. I also picked up a pack of foam poster board that I planned to make my signs with. Along with the mermaid cut-out, I planned to set up a "paint your own treasure chest" station, a face paint station and a place to dig for treasure in our sandbox. I painted the signs and gathered all the things needed for each station to save time for the morning of the party.

Originally I sent out the Evite to Olivia's friends for a mermaid swim party Saturday morning at 10:30am, but then changed it to 3:30pm when about half the kids would miss because of soccer. Neither of the girls' soccer teams were scheduled to play that morning, so we were fine either way. Around 7:30am, Olivia and I walked Buddy and Harley to the soccer fields and then we returned to the house to start setting up for the party. CK took Olivia with him to go flying and have breakfast together, which worked out perfectly since we wanted to have the party as a surprise for Olivia too. Sofia was at home with me and after playing and reading for awhile, I had her help me in decorating and setting up for the party. She was actually super helpful and did a great job, saving me a lot of time. Sofia helped blow up balloons, set out plates, napkins and cups, buried all the "treasures" in the sandbox and handed me supplies while I was up on the ladder. She swept the living and dining rooms and was game for helping out whenever I asked! It was terrific and I stopped calling her "Sofia" and switched to "assistant" which she loved! The set-up went well and I showered and started making the food around 2:30pm. For food, we had "starfish sandwiches" (pb&j sandwiches cut into star shapes), "Sea Snails" (Chik Fil A chicken nuggets), "Fishie Crackers" (Goldfish), "Oysters and Pearls" (cantaloupe and watermelon in balls), "Clamshell Cookies" (Nilla wafers with blue icing and a chocolate "pearl"), "Drift Wood" (large pretzels dipped in white chocolate with a goldfish on them), and "Ocean Punch" (blue Gatorade with pineapple juice and Sprite), which was surprisingly delicious. It was fun to make all the food and I'm thankful for all the ideas on Pinterest!

Meanwhile, CK took Olivia with him to run errands and then stopped at Chik Fil A for the chicken nuggets and then to Trio to pick up the cupcakes. I ordered the cupcakes from Trio, my absolute favorite restaurant that also caters, and ordered dozen chocolate brownies (that are the size and shape of cupcakes), six strawberry cupcakes and six blueberry-coconut cupcakes. I originally wanted a dozen each of chocolate and vanilla both with buttercream frosting that had a blue tint so the white chocolate "mermaid" tails I made would look like they were coming out of the water, but decided to let the Trio baker do her thing. I'd rather her birthday cupcakes taste good rather than look good. I'd piped mermaid tales out of white chocolate and added blue sanding sugar. Sofia helped me make them and taste test the white chocolate!

Olivia's friends arrived and they all jumped into the pool and swam and had a ball going down the slide a million times in a row! Her friends included Hannah, Evan, Spencer (and Margo), Antonio (and Luca), Nicole, and Conor. Collins was invited but their day got away from them and they didn't make it. All the kids seemed to have a great time together and I let them all swim for just over an hour before I brought out all the food and called them in to eat. I didn't want to leave the food outside in the heat, although it wasn't too bad in the low-90s and shady. The kids picked out plates of food and all seemed to have hearty appetites after their swimming. I'd envisioned the kids doing the craft stations after they ate, but they were all back in the pool as soon as they finished their last bites! Sofia and Margo started painting pirate chests which was cute. They get along really well and I knew Sofia would love painting out of everyone.

After swimming for a bit, I called all the kids out again to sing Olivia "Happy Birthday" and enjoying cupcakes together. Olivia was a little shy and a little tired and sucked her thumb as we sang to her! I got her thumb out of her mouth without a fuss and she chose a strawberry cupcake after assuring me she'd made a wish. The kids ate up cupcakes and then they were once again back in the pool. Olivia's friends started to say goodbye and trickle out around 5:30/6pm. Antonio, Sofia, Olivia and Luca ended up in the sandbox digging up all the treasures (I hope!) and having a ball in the sand. Antonio and Luca said goodbye and headed home while the girls jumped back in the pool where they swam and played until we dragged them out at 8pm!! I made a quick pizza for dinner and they were off to bed after a fun and full birthday party! Such a fun day!

About to be a mermaid party!