The Girl's Birthday

As hard as I try to stop them, my kids keep growing up.  The best part about them is that they get even prettier the older they get.  (Well, the girls at least.)

Big Sis turned 8 on Monday and we had a nice party for her on Saturday.  Since she was little, she's been obsessed with flamingos.  She used to call them BABINGOS.  How cute is that?  When Build-A-Bear came out with a flamingo, she just had to have it.  While browsing the Target dollar bins last week, I saw some flamingo stuff, which gave me the idea.  Big Sis has chosen many, many birthday themes over the past twelve months.  She's already started planning for next year.  But when I asked if she wanted a flamingo party, she exuberantly agreed.

Not many people have entire parties based on flamingos.  Believe me, I've searched.  I did find a couple good ideas online but most people have luaus that feature some flamingos.  So, I had to come up with most of the ideas on my own.  I tried to take a lot of pictures, something I typically fail to do at my own children's parties.  I wanted to show you guys all the cuteness I came up with.

First of all, the food:

I  really wanted to have an all pink menu, but that didn't quite work out.  Watermelon wasn't on sale and there really aren't many other pink foods we like.  I colored the fruit dip pink and chose pink-ish apples, so that works.  Big Sis also requested salami, so that fits into the pink category.  I don't think anyone picked up on my half hearted attempt at a pink theme.

If you can't tell, I have darling little flamingo picks in the food.  They cost a fortune to have shipped here, so please enjoy them fervently.

These pink marshmallows are one of the ideas I found online.  You dip a marshmallow in water, shake off the excess, and cover them with sprinkles.  I had that colored sugar already at home, so I used that.  The kids loved them and said they tasted like Peeps!

The Drink Station

It hadn't rained here in a month and a half.  But all week, there was a high chance of rain all day on Saturday.  I was bummed all week.  The day of the party, I kept checking the radar and looking outside.  It was overcast, but just didn't want to rain.  Finally, I took a chance and started setting up things outside.  Moments later, it began sprinkling.  I grabbed everything perishable and hurried inside.  Fortunately, the raindrops only lasted a couple minutes and we didn't get rained on.  Right now, we're pretty anxious for that rain!!!

The punch in the photo above is raspberry sherbet and cherry 7-UP.  It was amazingly delicious!  I meant to float raspberries in the ice water, but forgot.  Look how horrid my grass looks!  Wowzers!  You'd think I live in the desert!

The Kids' Table

The flamingo boxes were from Target.  I filled them with junk toys like bouncy balls, little rings, and glow in the dark bracelets.  Each cup had a bendy flamingo straw, which also cost a fortune to ship.

The gift of the day was a pink iPod from my parents.  She's been anxiously awaiting her own iPod for the longest time.  I guess the next thing she'll ask for is a cell phone.  Hmmm....

We had a pink water balloon toss and a pink scavenger hunt.  The winners received a dandy little flamingo pen with feathers all over it and a little notepad.  I took a photo of each guest with the birthday girl, which I will use for thank-you notes. 

Finally, we moved on to cake.  I made a 3-tier chocolate and pink cake that was decorated with clearance flamingo lawn ornaments from JoAnn's.  The bottom tier was pink, the middle tier was grass, and the top tier was a pool of water.  Big Sis helped me design it.  My mother purchased the huge flamingo balloon and Big Sis wore an adorable flamingo shirt with sequins and a pink tutu.  I had to spoil her with a pink feather boa and pink feathers for her hair.

Sisters

It turned out to be a lovely and special day!