Well summatime is finally here! Ready for lots of fun in the pool, cookouts and family time. We started with a little late night pool party with friends...as you can tell these kids are ready for a break from school!
and popsicles...lots of popsicles! Thanks to Miss Aimee they not have their very own holder.
The first week of summer brought VBS to our church and these girls had a great time with their friends and cousins all week!
And at the end of the week we had a little something to celebrate! This one is turning 10...I mean I can't believe double digits are here. Seriously, where did my little girl go...I am not ready for these teenage years ahead. AB had been giving me a hard time because I scheduled a girls trip with some high school friends on the day of her birthday not realizing it months ago when we made the plans that the dates would overlap...well I told her I would make it up to her and I think I did...can we say sleepover with 10 and a 4am bedtime (me included) plus extras! She had talked about what she would do for her birthday all year but we couldn't make some dates work for her friends to get back to Hot Springs and with her ball schedule that wasn't possible the week of her bday so we came up with plan B. Just like in some cases plan B sometimes turns out better than plan A ever could have and I think she would say the same thing. We had a blast and enjoyed all the silliness...and a few screams!
I didn't have much time to decorate because he had her birthday on a Thursday night so I don't get off work til 5:30 and the party started at 6...so I came running in and we threw together this little table of goodness for what was going to be a long night.
I planned activities that would keep these girls busy all night long. I know what happens with idle time so I made sure there would be none of that. The balloons were filled with paper that told the girls what activity we would be doing every 30 minutes up through midnight.
AB and I found this cute plates that we couldn't pass up and the rest of the table were clues to the activities that would take place throughout the evening with a few late night snacks mixed in.
The birthday cake I surprised her with..she said she just wanted some flavored cupcakes from the bakery. Well I thought about that but decided I would get her those cupcakes but with one exception given this was her big double digits. A SMASH CAKE!! I mean let's take it back to the #1 and make this big girl eat it with her face! So the bakery whipped me up this last minute tie-dyed cake and I was so excited to surprise her with it. After all these years and all these cakes I just couldn't let it go.
Glow sticks for late night fun along with nail polish trays and a make up tray..but none of it was for what they thought...hehehehe!
Miss Aimee even made her a shirt for the evening! Her first shirt to ever tray to make...and it looked great!
I thought the cake turned out pretty cool...especially considering the little directions I gave them to work with. Oh the days of sending all the pics and having all these fabulous over the top themed cakes.
And then there was this...Mitch showed up with a courtesy vehicle big enough to fit a whole football team. The girls were so excited and so was I because I got to drive it. It was just me and 11 little girls road tripping to Texarkana for a mystery surprise. And let me tell you that ride was so fun to drive...it may look goofy but I loved it! It might be my next ride in fact.
All loaded up and ready to go...just look at those smiles!
First stop was to Escape Texarkana for a little Frankenstein surprise. We were to be locked in a room with 1 hour just me and a bunch of girls in order to find the mystery of the missing brain. And boy did it get interesting...
AB reading off all the rules for everyone..first clue wasn't an easy one
and then these girls went to tearing up this room looking for other clues.
We found the next one and even manage to break the code on the box.
Which lead us to pulling out the handles of the sink in order to find another key to open the next box.
And then it happened...Frankenstein appeared...I mean how great are these faces!!! hilarious. I told them to bring on the big guy. They said they could or couldn't and I said oh no bring it on I want to see them scream. Looks like a win for mom!!
This would appear to show that we finished the escape room and got out but that would be untrue. Unfortunately, after several calls for hints from the employees and them giving us an extra 45 minutes of time we still were half way there, but he was kind enough to show us where we went wrong somewhere along the way and let the girls push the button to get out.
We did manage to find the hand, ear and the blood...but the brain and heart not so much! Thanks to Frank for making an appearance in our pic.
After the escape room we took the crew and went cruising in our sweet ride right over to Larry's Pizza for some crazy good food.
These girls took down some pizza..it may or may not have all been dessert pizza but they left full!
B's first chance to try a little chocolate chip pizza!
So glad Ellie could join us in the big city for all the fun.
And then we headed back to the house where the party continued. I just didn't get to keep driving the cool fan.. sad face. We kicked off the celebration with a little birthday cake and more sugar.
And the girls didn't let me down they made sure that she got that smash cake right in the face!
My favorite party pic...you are never too old for some good fun!
Cousin lovin with Katie Ella
The first activity on tap was fun swim..just like at camp. I was in the business of making sure they were tired.
Followed by blind make overs. We took that makeup from earlier and blindfolded the girl applying it while the partner patiently and hilariously waited. Jillian was one of the best sports.
She really was having fun I promise...this was mid laugh!
Even the littles got in on the action..
and so did mom!
Serous duck face with these beauty queens!
Then we played a little spin the bottle...no not that kind of bottle but I did have the girls nervous! We spun the bottle on the nail polish and whichever color it landed on you had to apply that to your toes...whomever had the most toes painted the same color won.
And boy did we make a mess! But those were some sparkly toes and feet for that matter.
At midnight we popped the last balloon.
And the girls used all the supplies to decorate their own pair of flip flops for a game of midnight glow in the dark tag until a dog chased them back in the house and the game proceeded in my living room. I finally go tthem to lay down around 2:30am only to hear them still giggling at 4am. It was a long night but lots of belly laughs and sugar kept everyone going!
The morning after...double digit donuts and lots of sleepy faces!! I think it was about 4am when they finally all went to sleep! Now time for a nap for momma!
Happy Birthday Beautiful girl...your double digits look like they are off to a good start!
