Cami waited so patiently for her birthday month. She was counting down for two months! This was the first year she was to have a ‘friend party’ AND she could get her ears pierced! It was definitely something worth counting down to!

Cami’s party was 10 days before her birthday, due to scheduling at the local pool, where she chose to have her party. That morning she lost one of her top front teeth . . . just in time to leave for her ballet grades!

Cami – Minus a Tooth

Along with a pool party, Cami chose a rainbow theme. We found directions for a fun rainbow cake, which we cut into personal cakes for everyone (versus cupcakes).

Rainbow Layers

When all the little cakes were cut out, we had a lot of leftover ‘scraps’.

Instead of eating them (very tempting), we decided to try our hand at making tie-dyed cake pops.

I didn’t get a final picture of the pops after we dipped them in white chocolate and sprinkled them with sprinkles, but they turned out cute . . . and were REALLY yummy!

The girls (and Caleb) were so excited to get in the pool. They found it hard to sit there for the instructional bit.

I was so grateful for one of the dads (and Chris) who volunteered to be in the pool with the lifeguard so the moms could just enjoy watching.

Singing Happy Birthday

Preparing to Be Dunked!

The pool reserved a part of the pool just for the kids at Cami’s party. For older kids’ parties, they have a big inflatable toy they set up, but it wasn’t missed. They had a great time playing with the floats and other things they threw in for them.

Cami

Hannah Meditating

Chris & Caleb

After an hour of swimming, the kids came into the party room, where they had a little tea-size meal . . . sandwiches, crisps, fruit kabobs, and veggies (with ranch dip – an American treat!).

The girls had a great time eating and talking. I always forget that fruit is a British dessert and not served with the savoury portion of the meal. All the British girls thought it was a treat to eat as many fruit kabobs as they wanted! And the sandwiches? Gone in a flash – tuna, roast beef and cheese, or ham and cheese. I just remember my ‘friend party’ at about that age, where I sat there eating almost an entire bowlful of Skittles from the lunch table.

The cakes were a big hit – however, very sweet and big for these British kids. My kids ate theirs in their entirety!

After opening her gifts, Cami handed out her favors to her friends. Each received a colorful towel with a bag of goldfish (newly arrived in the UK!).

For a first ‘friend party’, Cami had a blast! The girls were all from Cami’s dance classes and are just so gracious. It was a fun party!

A week later, we were at the mall for some family time and surprised Cami with a trip to Claire’s to get her ears pierced. She was very excited and not at all reserved in picking out the rainbow earrings she wanted. For the first time in our history of getting the girls’ ears pierced, they did both ears at the same time. Such a genius idea!