party – Casa de Murphy

Splashing Good Birthday Fun!

July 29, 2016 casademurphy

Last weekend, we had a splashing good time celebrating Liam’s 5th birthday with family & friends. While his actual birthDAY is not until this weekend, we opted to hold his party a week early due to venue scheduling. We had such a great time at the Oviedo Splash Zone last year for his party, that we held it it there again this year. It definitely did NOT disappoint!

Little Man selected STAR WARS for his theme this year. I found these clever invitations on Etsy:

The quiet before the storm of kiddos. The weather was already hot at 9:00 am, but we were thankful for gorgeous FL sunshine! Wee-man was ready to get his 5th birthday par-tay on 😉

This place is seriously amazing. It wasn’t even a question to not come here again this year. It’s literally a playground in the water ❤

Since we are surrounded by water and everyone is playing, we keep the decorations simple. We decided to go with cake pops this year in lieu of cupcakes, and they were THE BEST. Ms. Lauren from Little Boy Blue Bakery in Oviedo completely outdid herself with these fantastic Star Wars themed pops. Be sure to follow her on Facebook and Instagram (@littleboybluebakery) and see all of her amazing creations!

What kiddos doesn’t love a good party favor? Keeping with the simple, yet fun, theme, I found THIS idea online and was thrilled with the result! The TAGS were another find from Etsy 🙂

One of my fav shots of the R2-D2 cake pop! // photo credit: Little Boy Blue Bakery

I really have to brag about these pops because all I told Lauren was the theme and she completely delivered. We had Darth Vader, the Death Star, Chewbacca, R2-D2, and Stormtroopers. And, of course they ALL were SO delish!!

Here’s a snap of 4 of the 5 masterpieces ….all of the Death Star pops were eaten by the time I thought to take this…lol!

Jase & Liam 🙂

Liam & James….

Trying to get these boys to stop playing for 5 seconds and say cheese was IMPOSSIBLE…hahaha! // Brandon, Bryce, Liam & Jase

Love these girls! They always have my back ❤

And this lady has had my back since birth 😛 …my momma! So happy she’s back in the sunshine state with us!

Sillies….

Liam & Matthias…

double trouble 🙂 ….Liam & Kenadie

My heartstrings….my boys ❤

We had ordered a Darth Vader cupcake from Sweet! here in town so we could put a candle in it & sing to him. As cute as they made this for him…..he loved Ms. Lauren’s pops so much that he never ate this 😛 …he later declared that he “loves loves loves cake pops” ….so, I believe we have a new fav around here!

Love this family of mine….

Munchin’ on a Darth Vader cake pop!

….and, back in the water to play some more! All the kiddos had a great time & played ’till the facility literally turned the water off on the playground equipment to signal the party was done. Then, all of us parents had to pry them out of the pool 🙂

One VERY happy & blessed boy!

{who shockingly did not fall asleep even on the drive home from the splash park}

Thanks to everyone who came out to splash around with us! It really was such a great day & a super fun time to celebrate this sweet boy turning 5.

Hugs!

August 2015, Latest & Greatest News

A Splashing Good Time

August 7, 2015 casademurphy

Last Saturday, we gathered together to celebrate our little man’s 4th birthday. Very early into the planning, he declared he wanted an Avengers party, so I was excited to find this invitation on Etsy.

The shop I worked with is called, Cupcake Tops. Now thru Sept. 30th, use code: casademurphy and you can receive 20% off any purchase of $5 or more in their shop 🙂

Bday Party Invite

Liam LOVES to swim & play at splash parks, so we thought it would be fun to have his party at the Oviedo Splash Zone — part of the Oviedo Aquatic Facility. Basically, it’s like a playground in about 1 ft. of water. SO MUCH FUN for all!!

When we booked the party, we chose the morning time slot, as we thought there would be virtually no chance of Florida showers that early. Well…..Murphy’s Law — it stormed AND poured for literally the week & a half prior to and days after the party. I’m talking HEAVY rain peeps. Poor Tampa was under a state of emergency there was so much rain. I just kept praying it would let up for those few hours. We had no back up plan. Driving to the park, it started to sprinkle — I was less than thrilled, but Liam was so positive (as always). He said, “it’s okay Mommy. Sprinkles are not bad :)”. Love him! We were blessed as the rain stopped AND the sun came out. The weather was beautiful for the entire party ❤ …..and then, it poured again as soon as we got home….LOL!!

I have a lot of pictures to share, so be warned that this post is long 😉

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This is one of my fav shots of the morning. I have to tell you that Liam was a little stinker throughout the party, and almost every time I asked him to pose quickly for a pic, he said ‘no’ or ‘after cake’ or made a face. We had to work HARD for this shot!

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Knowing that we would be doing a water party with lots of kiddos, I thought cupcakes would be best & most easy to manage. Publix came through like champs with these! I gave them little direction, and we were thrilled with the end result. They even surprised us with these fun rings as toppers.

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We had a table set up under a ginormous umbrella. Again, so fun! Perfect for shade from the sun or rain. Since it was a morning party, we opted for breakfast snacks and coffee for parents. Thanks to Dunkin’ Donuts for coming to the rescue! I called ahead and we walked in just before the party, and they had our whole order ready to go. HUGE time saver!

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How awesome was this park? The kids {and adults} thoroughly enjoyed themselves!

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Cute mushroom!

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Liam & his cousin, Sierra ❤

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The orange slides were a definite hit with all the kiddos.

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It was SO hard to get any kind of a group shot. Even this is not the best pic of all 3 of these guys, but this is Liam with his bestie, Kenadie and a pal from school, Jase.

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Again….couldn’t get all to cooperate, but still so cute 🙂

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Here’s a quick clip of Liam & friends playing…..

Amidst the craziness of the party, I completely forgot to take a pic of the box of favors I put together for the kids. However, I had taken this pic at home beforehand, so I had some saving grace. I was pretty pleased with how they turned out. I found the favor tags from an Etsy shop called ICandyEvents. The shop owner was awesome to work with & customized the tag for me.

I put a few of Liam’s fav things in there — glow sticks, stickers, temporary tattoos, and a ring pop. All superhero themed, of course!

Goodie Bag

Shortly before the party ended, we pulled everyone out of the water to do cake & sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to the birthday boy. You can see below just how happy he was that we made him get out & stop playing….hahaha!!! 🙂

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We had such an awesome time celebrating Mr. Liam. Thank you to all who came out to have fun with us!

Happy 4th Birthday, Liam Michael — you are one LOVED little man ❤

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Until next time, friends!

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Latest & Greatest News, October 2014

Week-In-Review

October 29, 2014 casademurphy

Last week was such a fun week at gymnastics! Liam overcame his fear of flipping upside down and did his pull-over on the un-even bar with Coach Elyssa! He was super proud, as were we! Even more exciting was that his coach sent him a ‘star student’ certificate in the mail later in the week to recognize this awesome achievement 🙂 …that really was such a sweet gesture from her! Much appreciated by this momma & daddy!!

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We enjoyed a busy, but super fun weekend, as we geared up for the upcoming Halloween celebration. The festivities kicked off on Friday evening with our annual bash at the Bengel’s. Liam sported his costume and looked awesome!!

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Lisa had the house all decked out and I was in love with her ‘floating candles’ in their family room. Great touch!

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The kids decided to break out some pretty sweet dance moves. Liam definitely has some moves of his own, people….so cute!

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On Sunday, we took our little guy out to UCF for ‘Trick or Treat on Greek Street’. This was the 1st year we made it out there, and it was fun for him. He definitely was happy about the early trick-or-treating, and he did pretty good participating in a few of the games that they had set up.

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Trick-or-Treating is hard work 😉 …..water break!

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Sunday evening, the boys did a little pumpkin carving out back. Even the fur baby got in on the action 🙂

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Posing with his finished ‘jack-o-lantern’ …the smaller pumpkin is a fake one but he insisted that it was ‘the baby’ and that the one Stephen carved was ‘the daddy’, so they had to stay together….LOL!!! Too Funny!! What an imagination!

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By the time the candle burned out on this guy on Sunday night, I was exhausted….such a busy weekend, yet so much fun…..and, so many wonderful memories! Lots more Halloween fun to come this week. We are looking forward to sharing with you soon.

Until next time, friends!

August 2014, Latest & Greatest News

Recent Happenings

August 17, 2014 casademurphy

Last weekend, we were off to celebrate another friend turning a fabulous 3-year’s old. Oh, the life of a 3-year old, indeed….such a hard one….. 🙂

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It was a Little Mermaid themed soiree, so I tried to keep our guy in beachy attire 😉

We took this fun selfie before some snacks. The above pic was actually ALL him hamming it up. Totally cracked me up, and I was actually amazed I was able to snap the pic of that pose.

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There was a super big & super fun bouncy house / water slide out back. Liam gave it one good go & that was it for him. He much preferred the pool, but he was still all smiles at the end of this trip.

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This past week was considered the “end of summer” at school (daycare) for Liam. I think it’s mainly because all the summer camp programs are done and the county schools are back in session tomorrow.

So, it was “School Spirit” week with different fun activities sprinkled for the kiddos throughout the week. I didn’t get pics of everything, but here’s some highlights….

Thursday, was “Pajama Day”. Love this! I mean, who wouldn’t ❤ to wear their PJ’s all day?!?! Super comfy & laid back. That’s my kind of perfect.

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Liam & his teacher, Ms. Laura. We actually found out this week that it was our last week with Ms. Laura as Liam’s teacher {huge bummer}. He has been with her all summer & has really learned so much from her. She’s one of those teachers that you know your child has really bonded with & has grown by leaps & bounds in such a short time. We are truly going to miss her!!

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Liam, below, with some of his pals at school on Pajama Day.

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Friday was Jersey Day! If you all know Stephen, then you know if absolutely killed him that we don’t have a Giants jersey that fits Liam right now…..but you all know that it’s almost impossible to keep the kiddos in clothes these days. Man, do they grow fast, or what?!?! We do, however, have this very cool Orlando Magic jersey that was just a tad snug, but we made it work 🙂

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To end their fun week, the kids had a party. Since it was Ms. Laura’s last day, they also called it a “good bye” party for her. It really worked out perfect because she, and his new teacher, Ms. Brittany, did an awesome job of working with the kids all week and then explaining to them was what happening. I was very thankful for that, and it really helped Liam. We, obviously, talked more to him about it at home, but he really didn’t have any questions for us because the ladies did such a great job at school ❤

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Not the greatest quality, as it’s a picture of a picture, but this is of Liam’s class on Friday with Ms. Laura.

We will miss you, too, Ms. Laura ❤

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Everyone’s gearing up for a busy week, this week. How about you?

Until next time!

August 2014, Latest & Greatest News

Liam’s 3rd Birthday Party {part 2}

August 13, 2014 casademurphy

If you missed yesterday’s post with the 1st part of our birthday party fun, you can catch up here.

The kids really had a ball at My Gym with the staff and all the train themed activities that were intermingled with their free-play time during the 2 hour fiesta. Stephen & I honestly didn’t have to worry about anything. It was perfect!

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Bubbles — Bubbles — Bubbles Everywhere!!

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It’s a “train wash” 🙂 …this was so cute! The kids could ride through the bumpers to “wash” their “train” with the bubbles….lol. Gotta love that. Very creative!

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This is a few action shots of another creative activity. Just before this, all the children were sitting in a circle on the carpet, and Ms. McKenzie told them that one of the train’s, Diesel, came by and made a big mess. Ms. Kendall then scattered all these bean bags , balls, and pom poms across the gym while they had their eyes closed. The kids were then asked to help clean up the “train yard” by putting each type of item together in it’s own bin (e.g., all the bean bags in one bin, all the balls in another, etc.).

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They all did so good and enjoyed helping to clean up. Again, really cute! ….even the smaller kiddos liked to join in 🙂

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So happy to have cousin, Sierra, to celebrate with us ❤ ….although impossible to get these two to look at the camera together 😉

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Taking a spin with our friend, Brandon, on the “birthday train”

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Way to go, Kenadie! Great balancing!

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I caught this little gymnast hanging from the uneven bars like this several times. Ha! Perhaps he is trying to tell us something?

The ball pit was a huge hit with all the kids!

Below, Crosby was getting a kick out of his big sister Kenley playing around.

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Nathan & Liam plotting mischief 😉

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Brandon!! 🙂

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I ,most likely, was telling him to NOT fall in while snapping this shot 😉

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Trampoline! This was the very 1st thing Liam ran over to once he got into My Gym. The ladies at the gym even complimented how good of a jumper he was….haha!

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Activities ended with this super fun ride on the zip line! Liam actually did not enjoy it that much, but he had just taken a little spill just before this began so I think that played a part. Poor little dude.

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What a great celebration for this little man! We could not have asked for a better time. To everyone who came out to play with us — THANK YOU!! It meant so much to us and to Liam. He really did have the best time. To others who were not able to make it there, but celebrated in spirit and/or helped out in other ways, we thank you, as well, and you know who are!!

I know I said it before on my personal Facebook page, but I want to say it again here…..thank you ALL for the sweet birthday wishes to Liam over his whole birthday weekend. We really felt the love for our little guy and his tender heart appreciated it, as well. It was awesome ❤ ❤

We could not have asked for a better 3rd birthday celebration!! So blessed.

August 2014, Latest & Greatest News

Liam’s 3rd Birthday Party {part 1}

August 12, 2014 casademurphy

We had a fantastic time at Liam’s 3rd birthday party a few Sunday’s ago!

I have been dying to share the invites that went out but wanted to wait until after the party, for obvious reasons {note: my contact info is whited out for privacy}. I ordered these from the most wonderful little shop on Etsy, MaitriDsigns. The shop owner, Rhianna, was so great to work with & had excellent customer service! She was super speedy with her design and delivery. She even custom designed the cute inserts that we used for the party info that some of you all received. I highly recommend for any party needs and we will definitely use her again!

My regular local gal for Liam’s holiday & special occasion shirts was on hiatus this summer {to spend more family time….can’t blame her for that}, so I had to seek out someone new for little man’s party shirt. I found someone via Etsy. While I was happy with this shirt, below, overall….I have to say there was absolutely no customer service. So, that was disappointing. No acknowledgement of my order….not even a business card dropped in the bag with the mailout. Bummer…but, again, super cute shirt.

With the help of Liam’s Grammy & Papa Rock, we were able to order these yummy Thomas the Train decorated cookies to distribute as party favors. They came from Favor Bakery in Winter Haven. What a wonderful job these ladies did! They tasted as delicious as they looked ❤ ….Liam’s 1st pick was Thomas, of course 🙂

The idea for a Thomas the Train themed party really 1st came from Liam {naturally}. It sprouted from him seeing this Thomas Signature Cake on display at our Publix for the last few months. Everytime we went by it while shopping, he would tell us that he wanted THAT cake for his birthday. So, once I eventually asked him what kind decorations he would like for his birthday party, he matter-of-factly told me, Thomas, and asked if he could have this cake. There was NO WAY, he was forgetting about this cake.

When we 1st went to order the cake, the bakery told us they thought it was discontinued. Talk about a heart attack….long story short, Publix came through and did a FAB job. It really was an awesome cake….and deceptively large {very tall}. We ate cake for a week, peeps! LOL 🙂

Liam’s party was held at My Gym in Maitland. It was amazing! What a great facility for little one’s to play. As part of the birthday package, Liam & his guests received free passes to enjoy another class, and we can’t wait to bring him back! The staff that assisted with our party were so friendly and worked great with all the kids.

I love this pic above! We literally had to snatch Liam up really quick as he was running around the gym & tell him to say ‘cheese’.

The kids had free time to explore and play throughout the facility, but then the staff would also periodically gather them together to conduct group activities that were all train themed. It was such a fun time!!

Liam dancing in center stage during once of the activities 😉

During this activity below, the kids went for a ride on the “choo-choo train”. Liam wasn’t too sure about this one, at first, as you can see him checking out Kenley & Karsten in this pic, here.

However, then he decided they were having a great time. so he hopped on & it was all smiles! Kenadie, Thompson & Brandon also enjoyed the train 🙂

It was so nice to have Great Grandma & Uncle Kenny come to the party, as well!

We have a lot more pics of the kiddos to share & I have decided to break those up into a 2nd part post for tomorrow, so this one isn’t as long.

However, let’s skip ahead to the CAKE …yum!

Look at that face when the girls brought it over…..is that priceless, or what?!?! {I didn’t even notice the super cute folded hands until I was looking at these pics days later…..heart.melted }

Lighting 3 candles for the 3 year old birthday boy!!!

Singing Happy Birthday! Again, I LOVE his face…..there is nothing better than the sheer joy you see. All the planning & prep for the day — THAT makes it ALL worth it.

Make a wish….Blow out the candles little dude!!!

Everyone hanging out …enjoying yummy cake & pizza!

One of my fav pics of the day ….so hard to get everyone smiling at once but that’s okay. Wonderful memories!

Stay tuned for Part #2 of the Birthday Party tomorrow!! 🙂

Note: The reviews expressed are solely my opinion & I do not receive any compensation or kickback.

February 2014, Latest & Greatest News

Latest & Greatest

February 5, 2014 casademurphy

Last weekend, our Friday night started out with a trip to Publix to grab some dinner & a few groceries. From the back seat, we hear a little voice, say: “I want a big sister” ….say what?!?! THAT was an interesting conversation to have with a 2 year old and not one we expected at that moment. We proceeded to talk about how Liam could not have a BIG sister but he could say Timber was his big brother {he thought that was amusing}, and that maybe one day he would be a big brother. We also talked about our own siblings to him and how we were big brothers/sisters to them. Not entirely sure he got all of that, but we wanted to be honest with him. I think his curiosity & questions stem from him seeing siblings coming to pick up his friends at school with their parents. Very observant little dude!

The weekend’s festivities included a super fun 1st birthday party to go for our friend’s Matt & Michelle’s little guy, Brandon.

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Excuse me, I MUSTACHE you a question! LOL…LOVE this!! He was so cute!

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There were several wee one’s there so Liam had a good time playing. Although, for some reason, this ball pit was called, ‘the crib’ by him…ha! The birthday boy is in grey 🙂

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He found one of their dog’s balls in the backyard & practiced his future soccer skills a bit. Daddy was quick to point out that he was only kicking with his left foot.

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On Sunday, it was time for the Superbowl! And, of course, cleaning & grocery shopping {fun, fun}. After nap time, I took Liam to Jo-Ann’s to pick up some new drawer storage units to do a little re-do to his play kitchen. I am very excited for how it came out. I got two three-drawer units using my coupons. One side holds all his play food, and the other side holds all his utensils, bowls, and cookware.

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We had our friends, James & Steph, over for to watch the Superbowl later that afternoon. Amazingly, Liam was totally cool with having football on ALL DAY {daddy.was.in.heaven}. We even let him stay up a little late to catch the half time show since he loves music so much. I am a big fan of Bruno Mars and I knew he would like his music, too. He did not disappoint! As for the game…well, I may not be a huge fan of football, overall, but wow….not what I expected.

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Liam really got into the music toward the end of the show. Stephen filmed this clip, and Liam was hamming it up!! Check it out:

As always, the weekend went by too fast, but we enjoyed ourselves & had a great time spending time with our friends. Hope you had a great one, too!

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Until next time!!

Latest & Greatest News, October 2013

Adventure Week!

October 15, 2013 casademurphy

What 2 year old doesn’t love a big truck, right? Well, what’s better then getting to see one in real life?!?! Umm, nothing?? Liam’s school had our local Fire Dept come out on site to visit the kids & teach them about fire safety & prevention. Very cool!! Liam’s teacher & the staff told us that he LOVED it! The kids in his class got to go inside the truck to check it out, and sit in the seat & wear the seat belt. When we asked him if he saw the big red fire truck that day, he replied with, “I climbed in” ….so cute. Kudos to his school for doing this 🙂

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Over the weekend, we had a birthday party for a fabulous 5 year to attend. Liam was very excited to help celebrate another little friend’s special day. He was singing to her on the drive there…haha! It was a Jake & the Neverland Pirates theme, and he’s pretty fond of that show, so that made it extra fun.

There was a pool AND an inflatable water slide…oh.my.goodness….almost too much fun for this little guy. First, let me tell you that we forgot to bring his swimmy vest (fail!!). We still did pool time but he was convinced he could swim. The kid has NO.FEAR…I have fear, though!! Swim lessons are definitely in our future for spring or else my poor heart & nerves may not survive.

The water slide took several tries but he was brave with this, too. Once the bigger kids were all in the pool, he gave it a whirl….

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And, of course, what birthday party isn’t complete without cupcakes AND a pinata? Last year, Liam was too little to take a swing at the pinata but this year, we helped him to take a whack at it 😉

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Hope you had a good week, too! Definitely enjoying the “slight” dip in temperature here in our neck of the woods over this last week and looking forward to hopefully some continued cooler temps in the weeks to come! It’s probably crazy that as soon as the morning lows got below 70 last week, I was immediately like, omg, I’ve got to get Liam some clothes (nothing from last fall/winter fits). HA!

Until next time….