Aloha ~ A Summer Birthday Party

My oldest two daughters share a birthday.  For the past three years, they've humored me with joint birthday parties involving butterflies, silhouettes, and woodland fairies.  Not this year. At 7 and 4, they wanted parties to reflect their individual interests. And since May is only my busiest month of the year at work, it seemed totally sane to plan back-to-back birthday parties for the same weekend.

Luckily, they chose simple themes that were fun to execute.  My oldest wanted to host her friends at our private neighborhood park on the lake for a Luau / Summer Splash extravaganza.   We rented an inflatable waterslide and ordered fabulous Aloha printables from Stefanie Richter at Anna and Blue Paperie.  Stefanie happens to live in my city, and I was super happy to support a local mom's business.  She's also incredibly talented --- go, check out her blog as soon as you finish reading this post ;) -- and her work provided the basis for our party.

Here is the invitation, which I backed with yellow cardstock and mailed in bright pink envelopes:

The birthday girl chose a pink and purple lei to match her swimsuit:

We kept food simple for this mid-afternoon gathering: Hawaiian pizza, a tropical fruit display (including chocolate-dipped pineapple) from Edible Arrangements, cupcakes, madeleines, and Kona Ice served in coconut cups with umbrella straws.

 

With some inspiration from Cookies Are My Canvas, my friend Chari at One Classy Cookie once again came through with beautiful cookie favors (She also made the cookies for our Woodland Fairy and Winter Wonderland parties).  Each child also chose a lei to wear and take home.

In addition to the waterslide, which was a hit, we provided hula hoops and beach balls, and the kids also had full use of our park, including playscapes, tennis, and basketball courts.  The girls also crafted shell bracelets.  There was plenty of activity, and I think everyone slept well that night!

Next up, my middle daughter's Strawberry Shortcake baking party!

(Sharing with Savvy Southern Style, Celebrations at Home, Real Family Fun, and Seven Thirty Three)