Annie's 8th Birthday

We managed to stretch out Annie's birthday celebrations for four days. On her actual birthday, Mommy and the boys picked Annie up at school for a lunch date. She chose Dairy Queen because she wanted chicken tenders and a smoothie. Done!

We had such a fun time being silly at the restaurant. Annie felt so special getting to leave school inthe middle of the day. It was lots of fun. That night Puna and Papa arrived. Annie got to open her presents from Grammy and Grampy and Mommy and Daddy.

She loved her presents and said it was the best birthday ever, but the fun was just beginning. The next day she had her friend birthday party. She said she wanted a feista with crafts, a pinata, nachos and red velvet cake. No problem.

For the crafts we made big tissue paper flowers that the girls could put in their hair or use to decorate their bedrooms.

We also made spoon and egg maracas. Those were a huge hit.

The girls were giggling and creating like crazy. All the girls were so kind to each other and really enjoyed getting to make some fun things. All that crafting made us hungry so we dived into the nachos.

After nachos, it was time for another craft. We made cookie sombreros (thank you Pinterest). These were so easy and fun. I think the girls ate most of the ingredients before they could be made into little hats.

They turned out so cute. Hearing all the giggles was worth it.

After cookies we moved on to the pinata - sugar rush should have been the theme of this party.

 All the sweetness and manners went out the window with the pinata. These girls were fierce!

Annie loved her cake. I learned after the party that she had wanted it to look like the flag of Mexico. Mommy didn't get that memo. But she said she liked what she got even better. Puna was a huge help getting the cake ready while mommy did the rest of the party prep.

 Her friends are all in the Spanish immersion program at school, so they opted to sing to Annie in Spanish. It was so cute. We were blessed with amazing weather that day. It was a relief to send the kids outside for some play time after cutting the cake.

Annie was a great host at her party. She said thank you to all of her friends and made sure everyone felt included and was having fun. It is amazing to see her growth over the past year. And it was a pleasure to celebrate her special day.

On Saturday Annie got to go shopping with Puna for some school clothes while Lily had her own birthday celebration.

Then on Sunday, it was Lily's birthday party. Lily wanted just a family party this year. We realized after Annie's party that we had forgotten to use the cascarones we had ordered for her party. So after opening presents from Puna, Papa, and Uncle Brady....we broke open the celebration eggs.

 Annie was so excited to get a diary that locks. She lost the keys a week after getting the diary.

 Annie's school teacher breaks open a confetti egg on her student's heads on their birthdays. Annie really wanted us to do this at home too. It is tradition that the one breaking the egg and the one who gets the egg broken over their head get good luck.

What can we say? It's great to be eight! We love you Annie. Your birthday was bright, colorful, creative, silly, larger than life, and sweet.....all the things you are!