Rylynn - Aloha!

Today was Rylynn's birthday party. She turned 6 on Tuesday, but we held off on the partying until today. We had a luau. Rylynn - bless her - is still young enough to indulge my need to throw elaborate theme parties. And she even enjoys them! It is sad to know that when I am old (or dead), the only talent my kids will remember me having is being amazing with crepe paper streamers and balloons. Oh well, you work with what you are given, right? The funniest part was that the hula girl pinata kept falling. The loop to hang it on broke, and then we hung it from a plastic loop in the back, which also broke. So Kaydin, my brilliant (and somewhat macabre) son, tied they string around the poor hula girl's neck and strung her up like she was being lynched. This time it held. But the darn pinata just wouldn't break. We gave her a vicious beating and her legs finally came off. But not before Trevin wound up with a bloody nose. It was like a gang fight. Ok, it was really an accidental elbow in the face that caused the bloody nose.

The scene of the crime. Ok, I went a little crazy with the decorations. But kids freaking love this stuff!

Here, Rylynn is "surfing" in the ocean we set up (it consisted of a tarp, inflatable palm trees and flamingoes and an ironing board) All the kids got their pictures taken surfing.

This is a beach-wear relay, where the kids had to dress in all the hawaiian clothes as fast as possible and then do a quick hula!

Here is the ocean cake. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out - I even made some lovely, white-capped waves and surfboards out of fruit-striped gum!

Here is Rylynn's friend, Mackie, giving the pinata a beatdown!

Some thoughts about my beautiful (now 6 year old) daughter: She makes me smile every day and melts her dad's heart every moment he is with her. How blessed we are to have her as a part of our family. She is a sweet big sister to Kellyn and Ewan and a hilarious little sister to the older kids! We love you so much Rylynn Emma!