ALOHA!

Well, today my middle daughter turned 6. This year she got to have a friend birthday party. I SOOOO didn't want to have a princess party. Not that they aren't cute and fun, but between the movies and the books and the stickers and the underwear, well...I'm getting pretty princessed-out! Besides, there were a few boys from her primary class and a boy cousin who were coming so I thought we should think of something a little more gender appropriate for them! And her really good friend, daughter to my really good friend, had just had a really cute princess party in December - so I just felt we should pick a different theme.

We finally agreed on a LUAU! This was especially fun because we still have a bunch of snow on the ground and it is like 12 degrees outside!

First...Invitations!
This is the front. On the back was a little saying that went something like this: Sunny days and summer fun seem really far away, so we're bringing Hawaii to us for a 6th Birthday! It went on to invite guests to surf on over to our beach for a Hawaiian Luau, with beach games, and an island feast!

Next, Decorations:

I got everything from Oriental Trading - I only bought the cheapest ones! This one fell apart while I was hanging it, so I had to tape it together in mid-air!

Alternated these hanging lanterns and the spiral thingies below along the bottom of the eves above our porch. And also all around our living room hanging from the ceiling.

And my favorite...the Tiki Torches lining our sidewalk in the foot of snow, wedged between my little spiral Christmas trees that are so frozen into the ground that we can't get them out yet! Got these at Zurchers for $2.99 each.

The green grass skirt for the craft table is kinda drooping after the 2 year old kept "hiding" all afternoon while I was trying to get things done!

I fell in love with this fisherman's net and the sea creatures and had to have them for our beach!

For the craft I got these oversized sunglasses and a bunch of Tropical sticky foam shapes and let the kids decorate them. They had a blast. We also did the Limbo, had a hot lava relay where the kids could only step on the "rocks" (construction paper rocks taped to the floor), and my brothers friend came over and taught the kids a real Hula! It was so cute watching them watch her and try to do exactly what she did!!

The most important thing...the food! We made fruit-kabobs, and had cheese cubes, sweet and sour meatballs, chips and tropical fruit slush.

Used these really cute hibiscus picks and also some palm tree ones and stuck them in...

The cheese cubes...

The cupcakes...

And some meatballs that I didn't take a picture of!

The kids had so much fun, and we had so much fun watching them. And now I sit here mourning the fact that this little pixie of mine is growing up too fast, and there's nothing I can do to stop it!

I love you sweetie...Happy Birthday.