Come on Barbie let's go Party

This past Saturday we celebrated Ella's 5th birthday. What a fun milestone to reach! She is a "whole hand" old. This is also the last year before she becomes a school girl . . . I can't believe she is already at this point! Wow.


Ella decided she wanted to have a Barbie theme for her B-B-Q party. We stalked up on Barbie garb and decorated in two shades of pink (a color we have become VERY familiar with). She was excited to have her cousins Ashley, Megan and Jake at the party and was super pumped to be able to invite her daycare friend, Ellie, to the party as well.

The Griffin girls arrived first with my dad and Barb. Let the festivities begin!


Since the day was cold and dreary, we had to get a little bundled up to be able to go outside. Claire was supporting the awesome sweater that Auntie Beth got for her in Vietnam. Dang, is it cute!

The highlighted decoration of this party had a duel purpose. Although it looked great as a decoration hanging from the middle of our garage, it was even more fun as a pinata which the kids smashed to smithereens later in the party.

The kids started the party by bouncing on the trampoline. The kids loved when Jocie joined them because they got to bounce way higher than what they were used to! The parents were thankful for the net . . . the kids were pinging off that thing like you wouldn't believe!

When I was out buying some of Ella's gifts, I treated my self to these cute shoes. Payless Shoes is great, isn't it? You get cute shoes (often discounted further than their already low price) without feeling any guilt! YAY!

Any way . . . kind-of a random sidenote . . . back to the festivities :)

While the kids played, my dad, Carl and his dad marveled at the meticulous lawn. Carl sure knows how to mow! He stood a little straighter every time someone would compliment his precious crop :)

Ellie and Ella

While the big kids played, the little kids snacked while the adults enjoyed their Margaritas. What?? What 5-year-old party doesn't serve Margaritas??

My nephew, Jake

The real fun began when Carl and the other dad's challenged the kids to a softball game. The little girls weren't too sure about this, but once they found out they could really crush the ball, they had a blast!

Ella beating the tag at home!

Carl was in heaven during this game. All he could talk about was how this reminded him of all of his birthday parties as a kid. All of his uncles and cousins would play games of baseball or basketball. It is one of his favorite memories growing up. He loved that he could pass some of those memories onto his own kids.

Ella at first with Auntie Dana

Jocie was the slugger of the kid team. Just look at that form!

Megan scoring yet again, with her brother on deck.

Megan sprinting to first, with Jocie on second, while Ella ran toward third!

Jocie was getting a little over confident with her big lead . . .

. . . and ended up getting picked off by her Uncle Darin at second base!

Ella watching the play intently while her Grandpa Dwaine played first base.

Megan tried to run through the catcher (her daddy), but he scooped her up for the hug at home plate.

We had (far too much) delicious food on the menu for the party!

After dinner, we headed back outside for the Pinata breaking contest. Ella started with a big hit right to the middle of the Pinata . . . but nothing happened.

The kids kept taking turns, taking three swings per turn. After two times through the order, Ella finally broke the pinata wide open and spilled out it's candy contents. The kids scrambled around to get all the candy their Barbie bags could hold.

Then, everyone gathered around the birthday girl to watch her open her gifts.

What's a Barbie birthday party without a Barbie cake? Although the cake looked awesome, and tasted delicious, it sure was hard to cut! I made quite the mess!

We had a great time with family and friends celebrating Ella's 5 years of life. I love being surrounded by the people who care about Ella so much. There is nothing better than a child's birthday party. Parents work so hard to have everything just right, even though nobody would ever notice if something wasn't quite perfect because they are too busy visiting with loved ones while they watch their children play so happily with cousins and friends.

We can't wait to see how Ella's 5th year unfolds. From learning how to tie her shoes, to her first days of Kindergarten, I know we are in for a great ride!