Sunday, August 19, 2012

Annika's 5th Birthday Celebrations

I can tell the month of August is getting away from me when it isn't until the 19th of month that I get around to blogging about Annika's birthday. Shame on me!

We decided to keep things a bit simpler this year and scaled back from previous year's birthday extravaganzas. We invited a couple of her classmates over for a kids' party and then had family over for a BBQ dinner out on the deck later in the day. The weather was incredibly cooperative, which was a definite treat. Even with the low-key approach, we were completely exhausted by the time we fell into bed that night, but it was more than worth it!

During the morning celebration, Annika was joined by her buddies Allison and Violet; these girls play beautifully and could practically form the first-ever professional giggle team. The girls had a blast playing games—including pin the starfish on the mermaid and pop the sea bubble, building their own sea-themed snow globes, bouncing in the bouncy house, and beating the heck out of a mermaid pinata (which, ultimately, Eric had to take a few whacks at to open it ... that sucker was well engineered!). 

After a bit of cleaning and food prep, the family portion of the day got under way. Fortunately, we planned a BBQ on the deck; the weather was just hot enough that we wouldn't have wanted to be cooking in the kitchen; that's for sure. We had grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, and we are so grateful that our loved ones were with us to have some fun together for Annika's birthday. All-in-all, a wonderful way to celebrate our sweet 5-year-old little girl.

Allison trying her hand at pinning a starfish on Ariel

Annika's turn

Annika, Violet, and Allison ... the three amigos

Blowing out the candles on her mermaid cake

Conor really gets into his desserts

Eric's parents gave Annika a much-coveted cowgirl hat
and pink cowgirl boots that light up. Really, could it
get any better?


Yeeee-haw

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