Luau

The month of May is filled with birthdays in our family.  Alex starts the month off on the first then comes Tiffany on the 17th, followed by my brother and sister both at the end of the month.

Sticking to themes this year, Tiffany decided that she wanted to have a themed party as well.  The theme she choose for her party was a Luau.  The planning for this party was so easy and yet so much fun.  Nana and I headed out to Walmart to look for luau things and we were so excited when we got there to see that everything pertaining to a luau was on clearance.  We were able to get a box of plastic leis as well as fake flower leis, the grass skirts for girls to wear, the grass skirt for the table, paper hanging pineapples, and parrotts, the luau straws, cups, fish netting, plates and napkins.  I went online and created and printed invatations for Tiffany to pass out at school.  Walmart even had a luau birthday cake!

Due to the Rabbit Fest going on in Cove last weekend Tiffany decided to postpone her party til this weekend in order to make sure her friends could come as well as the fact that she had just gotten out of the hospital last Monday. 

Saturday, we all got up early and started decorating.  We hung little lights with paper lanterns on them around the porch, hung up the fish netting, and the pineapple and parrots around the porch.  We decorated the table outside and got the grill ready to go.  You can't have a luau without a bbq.  I prepared skewers of ham and pineapple, I also took thick pork chops and diced them into large pieces and then marinated them in Hawaiian sauce, once they were done we took those and put them on skewers with fresh cut pineapple as well.  We also had teriyaki sauce and marinated chunks of chicken in it and then put those of skewers as well.  We then took little paper umbrellas and put cheese chunks and different pieces of fruit on each one.  We had gotten strawberries, melon, watermelon, pineapple, grapes for the different pieces of fruit. We also had a veggie tray and chips and dip.  For those that may not like the skewers we also had hot dogs. Nana was our griller for the day and for drinks we make virgin strawberry margaritias for everyone.

When we were out getting the food we came across a palm tree cooler that really made the yard look great. For games we had coconut volleyball, which is played with a water balloon and a towel.  Pop the coconut, where we blew up brown balloons and tied them to each of the kids ankles and they had to run around trying to pop everyone elses balloon without theirs getting popped.  We had a coconut war where the kids all had water balloons and got to toss them at each other like dodge ball and finally we had a limbo.  The music for the party was great as it was the Beach Boys Greatest Hits.

To finish off the party Tiffany had her best friend Kayla spend the night and we watched a movie and this morning they took all the photos from yesterday and each got to make a scrapbook of their memories from yesterday. 

I have learned that these theme parties take about the same amount of time to set up and plan as a regular birthday party and yet they are more fun and organize for the adults.  It was a great way to include people of all ages and have fun.  I think during the games the adults had more fun watching the kids.

Flight number 11

Wow!  My son is now 11 years old.  How time flys.  Speaking of flying, Alex really wanted to have a birthday party this year so instead of just having a regular old birthday party, I decided to go with a themed party.  The timing for the theme that Alex chose could not have been better. Alex decided that he wanted his party to be centered around planes.  He came to me and said, "Hey Mom how about calling my party Flight Number 11 since I am turning 11 years old."  I thought it was a great idea. 

It turns out while we were planning his party that on May 1st, which happens to be his birthday, was the local Air Show in Temple.  I told Alex to choose 3 of his friends and for part of his birthday Nana and I would take them to the Air Show and then later when we came back we would have dinner and cake with any other friends he wanted to have over as well as a sleep over.  Alex chose to to have his best friend Glenn, Keyton, and Andrew to come to the Air Show.  Unforunately, Andrew could not come to the Air Show, but was able to join us for dinner and the sleepover. 

The Air Show was a blast.  Glenn's family joined us for the show.  We all had a great time and the planes were awesome.  It was such a blessing to be able to spend the day with the kids and make new friends as Glenn's Mom and I had recently met and live just down the street from each other.  The show had a lot of action and when they brought out the planes from the Vietnam era they actually showed what the bombs looked like as they went off.  They showed the kids how the older fighter planes took down planes and the stunt planes were great as well. 

 They kids even got to go into an M 4 which is a simulator to see how it would be to actually be in a flighter plane and a space shuttle launch.

The planes and the show from the Vietnam Era really had the boys excited and the rest of us had a blast watching the boys reaction.  The best part of the actual show for the adults was the newer Fighter Jets from the Air Force as when they did their fly bys we could feel the heat from the plane from about 200 yards away as it went by.

When the show was over I had planned a HUGE surprize for all the boys that they still talk about.  We were heading out to the car and they boys were a little restless.  They had been talking the whole time about how they wished they could go up in a heliocopter or airplane.  Little did they know that I had arranged for them to get a heliocopter ride just for the three of them with the adult flying the heliocopter.  It seemed like a great idea and I was so excited for them.  When we got over to the heliocopter site and the boys learned that the were getting a ride they were to excited.  I decided that I wanted photos of the flight for them so they took my camera up in the heliocopter with them and they got some really great shots.  When the time came for them to take their flight I all of the sudden because the worried Mother and started second guessing whether this was such a good idea to send 3 boys ages 9, 11 and 12 up in a heliocopter without a parent.  My Mom and Bobbi (Glenn's Mom) assured me that they would be fine and to just stay calm.

Alex and the boys had a blast.  They talked about it all the way home and for days about it.  Even now they still talk about it.  When we got home Jon had gone and gotten a styrofoam plane and hung it from the ceiling in the dining room and the table was set ready to go.  Two more boys we call the twins, Andrew and Kenton joined us. We got a great cake with a plane on it that was just like the ones that the boys had seen at the Air Show and it was a great evening.  To finish the evening off we had gotten The Tooth Fairy for the boys to watch as they camped out in the living room for the night.

The following morning we had biscuits and sausage gravy, bacon and eggs and chocolate milk before sending the boys home.  What a great way to celebrate Alex's birthday.