Rachel's Birthday Party

I decided this year to do something different and let Rachel have a friend birthday party. We've put it off for quite awhile... Neither of our girls really like big crowds, so it's not like they've missed out. After being invited to several birthday parties this past year, Rachel was very keen on the idea of having a birthday party of her own. I decided to let her come up with who she wanted to invite on her own - I had no influence whatsoever. I did put a limit - 12 kids, which was probably more than she needed to invite by between church and school, she has a fair amount of friends. I believe we may have ended up inviting 13 and 9 were able to attend.

We had her birthday party on Wednesday, May 11th. Andy had been around for 5 straight days in a row, which had been nice. He did head in to work that morning, but came home in the afternoon to help with the party. A wonderful friend of mine let me bring Audrey over to nap at her house, which was so helpful. It was nice to be able to focus on Rachel and not worry about Audrey needing anything...

On the morning of May 11th the girls helped me make the cupcakes, which included sorting the M&M's:

Here are the finished products:

We went with a summer swim theme. We set up a pool in the backyard, had some sprinklers going, played a water balloon target game, the kids went fishing, and the most favorite game was using water squirters to knock objects off the playset. Who would have thought... We kept it pretty simple, for ourselves and for the kids. From what I read as I was planning the party, the simpler the better. For those that don't follow Houston weather, we are in a bit of drought right now. And of course the day of Rachel's party there had to be some clouds. Luckily the rain held off until the last 15 minutes of the party. Which by then most kids were done with the water and were a little chilly due to the lack of sunshine.

I really didn't take many pictures of Rachel's party. Having 10 kids to entertain and keep happy kept me busy! It was definitely worth it though! Rachel had a good time. My mom says any party where the birthday boy/girl doesn't cry, is a success. And luckily we did have success! All the children invited seemed to enjoy the party as well. They each got sent home with a beach bucket with goodies in it, which followed our summer swim theme. Anyhow, here are a few pictures that we took.

Rachel fishing:
Rachel being sung to:

I did learn a few things about putting on a party. Next time she gets a party, she gets one gift from the family and the rest from her friends. Her birthday loot was bigger than any Christmas she's ever had... Good to keep in mind. I also always forget that Rachel has grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins that always spoil her. So yeah, next time we do a party we'll keep our gift-giving simpler. Loved having it outdoors. Made clean-up easy... So grateful Andy was there to help. I couldn't have done it without him. Probably if there were fewer children, yes, but not with 10 4-5 year olds. I really liked doing it in the middle of the week. Not a fan of taking up anyone's Saturday. So, I think we'll keep that as a tradition in the future as well.

But most importantly, Rachel loved having her friends over and enjoyed it. She's already thinking of what to do next year. I'm sure it will change a million times before her next birthday rolls around...