Lydia's Princess Extravaganza!

For the past year Lydia has been loving to play dress up! She loves to throw on hat or heels and prance around the house. When she's done most of the time she says, " I just want to be Lydia." At some point this year her dressing up focused a little more on princesses and we invested in a used lot of costumes from eBay. Best purchase we ever made. Hence, it seemed natural to have a princess dress up birthday party. Most of Lydia's little friends are girls and so there we have it. Some of the things we have learned over the years of kid parties is be sure you have something for them to do beyond just running around and keep things simple i.e. food, décor, less is more idea.

I tried to do just that. A couple of highlights. I saw this on pinterest and then for the life of me couldn't find it again, so I winged it and I think it turned out well. This is just colored paper and double sided tape.


We had some extra streamers from other events so I wrapped up the center chair which is typically a captains chair to be her throne. I love balloons and I typically order a dozen for $10 at the Party City by our house. They only last 8 hours, so I order a few days early and pay, then pick them up the day of the party. I wanted things to look fancy so I pulled out only white and clear dishes.

It is hard to see here, but we made fruit wands. Using a cookie cutter we cut watermelon stars to top skewers of grapes. Super cute! I put them in a vase to add a little fancy. I used to really dislike plastic table cloths but last party I learned the beauty of throwing out the plastic table cloth.

Our main activity was the bounce house. It was awesome! However it was hot and we had to be sure to pull the kids in every 30 minutes or so for drink and air conditioning breaks. A Funny Business which is a family own and run inflatable company was amazing. They were more than accommodating and were really great at making sure we were happy with out order.
We ordered a cake from Publix. Lydia picked it out. It was so cute and all the toys on she was able to keep. The little castle opens up to store the princesses. It is hard to read but they added Happy Birthday on the walkway on the cake which actually required a very long conversation with the bakery folk. You would be surprised.

In between the bouncing we brought our princes and princesses inside. They played with the Little People castle and other pink toys to perpetuate the royal nature of the event.
We also decorated foam tiaras with stick on jewels and stickers. After they were finished they were able to prance around wearing their new head gear.

Lydia changed dresses a couple of times during the day. First she was Sophia and then she was Cinderella. After party she wore her pink hearted fedora and pink poodle purse.

For our party gift we gave out golden books. We decided that so often the goody bag is just as expensive as one usable item so we strive to continue this practice for the future. We had 2 books Princess and the Pea and The Blue Book of Fairy Tales. I added some thank you stickers on the back.

 

It was a great day! We had tons of fun!

Lassing Park and Barlett Park

Over a month ago at this point we made it to a couple more parks in South Pinellas county. The first was Lassing Park which is really just a giant field next to water. It is supposed to be beachy but I am not sure that it has enough sand on the shore for that. I will also say that it is on the Bayside thus I don't recommend a lot of time in the water there, however it was a beautiful scene. People walked around with their dogs. Others were picnicking and some even going for a run. It is secluded for the most part, so the only people going to this park already know where it is.

Since Lassing Park didn't have a ton to offer in terms of activity we jumped over to
Bartlett Park. Historically known to be a rougher part of town because of it's location was beautifully renovated and wonderfully welcoming. This park has a ton of family fun to offer. The recreation center was filled with families most of which were watching little league football and little league cheerleading. The fields were packed. The playground was nestled between the community center and the St. Petersburg Tennis Complex which I played at a lot when I was younger.


Lydia always loves a new playground and this was not any exception. It was a hot day and it would have been beneficial for this playground to have a little more shade provided. Nevertheless, the playground was ideal to have Lydia run and climb a bit before the afternoon showers that were impending.

We began the exploration of our local parks in late April and the mission was ambitious: to hit 50 parks by August. We didn't make our goal. We made it to 21 different parks in the hottest months of the year which for a little busy family of four I think was pretty good. We love being outside and we will continue to explore our area parks with the wide eyed excitement of our children, hoping to someday hit our goal of 50!

My PARENTS MOVED!

My parents have moved.
My parents moved. 

I am not quite sure how to best write that. I have never had to write it before. I am in an awkward state of sentimentality and simultaneously, pure excitement. Yesterday at quarter to 8 in the evening, we closed up the house on Neptune Drive which was place where my childhood unfolded and my adulthood was rooted. For 35 years, my parents have lived in a small but cozy little house which was always very clean and tidy. I have an overwhelming amount of memories attached to those walls and thus, I have an overwhelming amount of sentiment that continued to gush out, mostly out of my eyes, periodically yesterday evening.

For some people parents moving has always been part of their lives, sometimes because of the work they did; others because of circumstances. My parents never moved. Well, other than when they left their homeland Cuba, and  then later left Spain. No biggie. They have lived in Coquina Key for the 40 years that they have lived in this country. As we packed things up, I can't help but think that even today with my own home, the best sleep I have ever gotten was in my tiny childhood bedroom. Before my parents had central air I had an individual air unit which was always on full blast, so the room was cold closer to freezing, dark as a night and I had a bundle of blankets which allowed for the best sleep of your life. Not to mention the ever present feeling of security of being home.

I also found a giant rock that a old neighbor friend and I had found one in my early teens near the old Publix shopping center. I liked the rock so much we borrowed a shopping cart and rolled it home and then took the cart back. A silly memory but what it reminds me of is the people that have surrounded us for all these years. For a neighborhood that in so many ways has always been ever changing, we have had the same direct neighbors for over 25 years. Some for longer. People came over the last few days and cried on the shoulders of my mother in disbelief that they would no longer be there; there in that place.

Where did they move to? Well about two blocks way from me, in a perfect little condo where they no longer have to worry about aging roofs, giant trees and perpetual lawn mowing. We will get to eat dinner together more, Eliot and I will get to go the moves more, my girls will someday ride their bikes there, on Halloween my parents will stay late and give out candy. I am so deeply thankful that they will continue to be part of our daily lives even as my girls grow older. This move is such an amazing blessing for me, but for them too.

My parents have moved!
My parents moved!

Vivian's First Birthday

Our little one has turned one! She is the most delightful happy smart baby and I'm so deeply thankful I am her mom. For her for her birthday we decided to have a circus theme!

What I have learned now from being a mom for 3 years is that birthday parties are fun but they are even more fun when you keep it simple stupid. For Lydia's first we invited every person we loved in the world. It was too much. It was too much for her. She did great but it was too busy for a one year old. This time we kept everything significantly smaller.

However, I love throwing kid parties. I love the themes. I love the chance to get people together. The way I see it you only have a handful of years to do it before your little one doesn't want a party anymore or they would rather have a fun activity with specific friends.

I dressed Vivi up like a little clown in the pictures above for the invite. I just bought the tie and used lip stick for the nose. I didn't really over think the outfit itself. I snapped a million pictures and those were two of my favorites.

We kept the food simple. Eliot's mom made a great pasta salad and my dad made empanadas. He ended up making over 80 of them for our small party! I had seen this snack mix on pinterest and it had a great free printable. We made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the shape of elephants. The kids loved them! I picked out a 3 Ring Circus cake from Publix and they actually include a smash cake for free decorated in a similar style as the cake selected for $25 why would I make it?

In terms of décor I didn't do too much. I had a Happy Birthday banner and table cloth in the circus theme that I got very discounted at Target. I made signs on the computer in circus colors as well as a flyer for Vivi's stats. I was inspired by a cool new trend I saw on chalk boards that were set up at parties. But I didn't have the chalkboard and I figured I could save it and add it to the scrapbook. I love balloons, so got a few and put them around the house. To me balloons means festive.

For Lydia I made everything by hand from scratch and took months, I wanted to be sure to be as thoughtful but less work, so I ordered a simple paper banner from Amazon, the Martha Stewart collection and glued Vivi's monthly growth pictures. I purchased a make your own banner kit so I could put up her name but I can use it for any event in the future. I had collected circus bags from Michaels for the goodies bags which contained, animal crackers, circus stamps, punchy balloon and bubbles.

Outside we had a handful of games set up. We had a bean bag throw, ring toss, knock the cans, the piñata, fishing games, and the sand & water table. We had a sno cone machine that we brought out because, really why not. To be honest it was nice however it was terribly hot outside. We managed to have everyone popping in and out fairly comfortably.

The games I just put together. The ring toss was a set of water rings with baby cereal containers. We filled the containers with rocks and drew silly faces.
Bean Bag toss, well I had bean bags you can make those too if you like but I didn't. I did just right scores on plates that were weighed down with rocks and it worked like skee ball.

The knock a can I unwrapped 5 cans, wrote what they were on the bottom, so I could use after the party, put them a small table and that was that.

We created a baby toddler friendly "circus" inside. I purchased a circus tent from Ikea, and a floor cushion that looks like an elephant. We had a crawling tube and a riding horse (thanks to Grandpa) that we included and he last "circus" item was a small blow up pool with balls in it. It was a hit! Kids from age 8 to 12 months enjoyed it!

The inspiration for this party was this wooden cut out of a clown. My mom has always loved clowns and she actually dressed up as one and let the kids wear different parts of her outfit. They loved the surprise and the pure silliness. This sign was outside of a neighbors house in the alley of our old house. I asked if I could have it and they gave it to me. I meant to turn it into more of a photo booth but didn't get a chance. It was a great day and Vivian enjoyed her party a lot. It really was a special day.
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Our Water Week

This week we have been checking things off the summer list. Everyday this week we have done something in the water.
Monday Lydia took a big jump at swim lessons with her ability to follow directions and actually swim.

Tuesday I needed to get a few things done in the garage and so I filled up a couple of Tupperware of water and let both girls play with the beach toys. They loved it and were entertained almost 2 hours. Later in the afternoon the Rohrs clan came over and we played in the pool for a while.




Wednesday Eliot was home so we went to Northshore pool to play in the kid section. For all 4 of us it was $10 and we were there 2 hours so it was certainly a deal. Parking was free and we took snacks. I also took a could of toys which was a good idea because the kid section was great but my girls are still a bit little and have a healthy fear of water, so the giant buckets falling in their heads they avoided. I had a ball on the other hand. Even slid down the slide.
















Thursday we had a girl day at the Florida Aquarium. We saw fish and played outside in the water park and sandbox area. Lydia really takes a lot of time to warm up to splash parks. She hates water in her face and so she tends to run around them until she gets brave. She never quite got there this time. She played in the sand box and some girl took her shovel so she threw sand in her.
I was a little further away with Vivi and when I went over to ask the mom had one of those looks on her face as if her child would never commit any indiscretion in her short life. I hate that. I made Lydia apologize and she sat time in time out and ate a snack. I should have brought some sand toys. Oh well.
















Friday we had planned on a pool day with the Abuelos. But Vivian was noticeably not feeling well. She had gotten an ear infection.
Luckily even though she was asymptomatic with exception of a fever. I decided to take her in to see the doctor. So we played and cleaned and did house things. We had gathered some leaves from the front yard and painted them. We then used them as stamps. Vivian did very well with a brush considering she's not quite 1 year old yet.
















Later on we had a lovely dinner and playtime with friends. It was a great way to end a busy week. After a couple of hours of play everyone got in their pajamas. Lydia chose hers. She insisted even though it's 90 degrees out and it feels like 103. She did look cute though for sure.










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