The Lee Family: Happy Birthday Party, Olivia!

Today we hosted Olivia's 7th birthday party at our house! Although her birthday isn't for another 8 days, we figured it would be fun to have an end of summer/7th birthday party. Plus, we wouldn't be able to host her birthday party for several weeks, and thought it might be fun to host it a little early. A few weeks ago, I asked Olivia who she'd like to invite and she listed out her soccer team girls and several of her school friends. The school friend group included Hannah, Riley, Antonio, Cora, Hana B, Rylee, Salvek, Scott, and Poppy. Her soccer friends who came were Margo, Brinley, and Emma, and Addison, who Olivia played soccer with a few years ago. Originally, Olivia wanted a 'dragon-themed' party but after talking to her about other options she remembered that last year she decided that she would have a 'giraffe-themed' party for her 7th birthday party. So, I looked into giraffe-themed birthday party stuff and found that aside from baby showers and 1st birthdays, there isn't a lot of giraffe-themed items. I did find enough stuff that would work and set off in party planning mode.

The party was set for 4-6pm on Sunday afternoon, so we decided to have Chik Fil A nuggets and strips, ham and cheese sliders, pretzels, bell peppers, cucumbers and carrots. Olivia wanted a cake similar to last year, choocolate/chocolate on the bottom layer and vanilla/vanilla on the top. She also specifically requested I make it from scratch. I'd found really cute birthday hats that I could add to the heads of the plastic giraffes, lions, hippo, etc. We decided to add a few to the top of the cake for decoration. I made the cake earlier in the week, froze each layer and then defrosted and frosted them on Saturday night.

On Sunday we went to Meeting, went to brunch at Black Walnut and then headed home. Olivia was actually invited to go get a mani/pedi with her friend Poppy, which was pretty cool. In the last few minutes, Olivia actually got really nervous and shy and didn't want to go with Poppy. It felt really bad and had to really convince her to go. I think she was just really tired and wanted to relax, but knew she would really enjoy it once she went. While she was gone, Sofia took a nap and I got the house ready and decorated. CK picked up the giraffe thumb print cookies, balloons and ice. Once he got home, we put the waters and juice boxes on ice in the metal containers.

Olivia returned home and Poppy stayed and played until all of their class friends showed up to swim and play. Her friends showed up right at 4pm and even Stacy, who is always right on time, wondered if she was late to the party since there were already so many kids ten minutes into the start time! It was hot but perfect for swimming, so the kids all had a great time using the slide and swimming. I'd hired Hailey, our 16-year old neighbor and babysitter to come to the party and act as a lifeguard. I knew everyone could swim well, but I also wanted a set of eyes totally focused on the group of swimming kids. A few of the girls decided to find snails and build a snail holding area. So they spent their time collecting rocks and building a cage and then collected snails to put into the cage. It was adorable and they took it so seriously!

At 5:30pm, I called all the kids in for lunch and after they had eaten, we sang Happy Birthday to Olivia and passed out cake and ice cream. It was delicious and there really is nothing as good as a homemade cake! So glad Olivia agrees with me and always wants a homemade cake for her birthday. After cake was over, some kids went back to the pool for a bit while others said their goodbyes and headed home. I made sure each of them took an animal cracker box for a party favor and had Olivia thank them for coming. At some point, Olivia headed outside and ended up opening many of her birthday presents, which were all stacked on the outside table. I couldn't believe that she ripped them open without even keeping track of who gave her each gift! I was able to piece together most of them after her friends went home, but I know several of her thank you notes will say "thank you for your gift" since I don't really know for sure some of the gifts are from the right friends. It was such a fun party!

After all of her friends had gone home, Olivia asked where our gift was for her! She actually told me she'd seen it in our closet a few weeks ago! Little scamp! I brought it out in a bag and she opened it! It was a hatchimal! She had asked for one months ago and was so excited when she actually opened it. Can't believe we'll have a 7 year old soon! Wow!

The forks and spoons and our party animals