April 22, 2012: Ali's Birthday Party...

Heaveno!

Well, today was the big day.  We threw Ali's 6th birthday party at nearby Irvine Park, and this time sprung for one of their pavilions.  They're not cheap, but man, was it nice.  What a great place Irvine Park is.  So much to do... railroad, zoo, horse and pony rides, paddleboats, bikes, duck feeding, peacock watching, and a little birthday partying to boot!  4 years ago we rolled the dice and threw the party closer to Ali's actual birthday, April 11, which inevitably means it's like the last weekend before Easter, and the place is CRAMMED.  Also, it happened to be 102 degrees that day.  Not today.  It was perfect.  71ish with a light breeze.

We had 20 kids (babies included) with roughly the same number of adults on hand for the fun.  It was great; there was a crew from church, from school, family, and a few friends and their kids to top it off.  Hats off to grandma for helping to set up and clean up, and to grandpa for the cake to end all cakes.  Thanks to Sara for the photos, but the real hats off has to go to Angelique.  She has been working on this party for weeks, and it showed.  Let me tell you how awesome the mermaid theme was...

The Ocean Jello with JuJu fish swimming inside...



The pb&j sushi was cool, but the California Roll sushi made up of bread, cream cheese, carrots, and turkey were off the chart creative!



Here is the cake to end all cakes.  Ali custom ordered it from grandpa.  He's been taking cake making courses, and it shows!







Streamers and nets with Ali's colored-in-fish in the net...



Mer-Races... like a potato sack race, but tape the trash bags once around the waist, and then around the ankles to make a tail... girls heat, and boys heat...





mermaid pinata....



Daddy played the ukulele as we all sang happy birthday...



There were decorate-your-own cupcakes, and decorate-your-own mermaid and merman crowns...



A good time was had by all.



Yesterday, we took all the crust from the sandwiches, chopped it into crumbs, and today, fed them to the ducks for the rest of the afternoon.  (This is not a duck.  This is a Julian.  Figured a cute mug shot of him would be a nice ending point)



Life is good.

God night.