Ooh la la . . . Paris birthday party!

Hadley turned 11 last month and had a big Paris-themed birthday celebration.  She wasn’t sure exactly what she wanted to do for her birthday this year but knew she wanted her dad’s crepes and to watch a movie in the ‘theater room’ with all of her favorite concessions.  She didn’t jump up and down with excitement when I suggested a Paris birthday, two of her cousins both recently had Paris birthday parties and she was afraid she was copying them.  It didn’t take long though for her to get excited and help plan the party when she heard about some party ideas.  We had fun shopping together for all of the decorations.

She had two birthday wishes . . . a digital scrapbook and a visit with Zeus.  After a few texts and begging, I finally got a text back from Zeus’ owner that we could visit him the Sunday after her birthday and take him to a nearby park.  I spent the last few months working on her scrapbook and luckily had it all ready for her birthday surprise.  If you wanna peek inside the book, click on this link.

In typical Hadley fashion, she shared opening gifts with her siblings and let Morgan, Mia and Griffin each take turns opening one of her gifts.  I don’t think she really cared what was inside the wrapping paper after reading the card and finding out she was going to visit Zeus in a few days.  It’s all she had been wanting and talking about ever since we drove off without him 2 months earlier.

Her birthday was on a Wednesday which happens to be her busiest day of the week.  She had to open presents quickly and didn’t have time to even look at her scrapbook before she left for piano lessons before school.  Luckily we checked her out of school for a birthday lunch so we were able to spend some time with her during the day.  She had to go to her dance/singing practice right after school for 3 hours.  We picked her up from class and went straight to a late night dollar movie, We Bought A Zoo.  We got home after 10 pm and made everyone go right to bed so they could wake up for school the next morning.  She was so excited to finally get to look through her scrapbook the next day after school.  

Lunch at Blue Lemon

The birthday invitation

The Paris theme made it so much fun to decorate for the party.  I had my sweet friend come over and help me get it all set up.  And by help, I mean she did it all while I sat on the couch blowing up balloons for the balloon arch.  My favorites from the party were copied from pinterest and etsy--the balloon arch and the candy Eiffel tower suckers.

I had big hopes for Hadley’s cake.  I found the perfect cake and tutorial on pinterest.  And even though I’ve only used fondant once, I was certain I could recreate this amazing masterpiece (on the right).  With only 10 minutes until the party guests arrived and an undecorated cake sitting on the cake platter, I realized some things may not work out and the cake was one of them.  I quickly rolled out the fondant, put it over the cake and then used my newly acquired quilting tool to make some messy lines.  The party guests still loved it and asked if it was fabric and not icing on her cake.

The party started with guests getting to order their custom crepe.  Nutella was the party favorite.  I tried to sway a few to try the cheesecake  filling but they knew what they wanted and it wasn’t cheesecake.  Or any cake.  They were all too full after the crepes that we didn’t even cut the cake or get the ice cream out of the freezer.

Gavin had a boys (aka father and sons) trip planned to St. George to see the air show that weekend but waited until everyone had eaten their fair share of crepes before loading up the car and heading south.  Hadley will be the  first one to tell you that her dad is the most handsome, crepe making dad around.  We even have it written on a post-it note on our kitchen wall in case we forget.  I think this may have been when he was asking the girls for compliments to the chef.

The party guests

We cleaned up the crepes and turned the dining room into a Parisian perfume factory.  The girls could choose to follow a recipe for a particular scent (sweet, citrus, musky, flowery) or if they were wanting to be even more creative, they could add their own secret ingredients for a personal scent. I borrowed this set up from my friend but this could easily be copied with a perfume kit from Amazon or etsy.  Here are a few I found in my google search and thought were cute--HearthSong or Scientific Explorer’s Perfumery Kit or Solid Perfume Party Pack.  Or you could switch it up and have them make lip gloss-- Lipgloss Making Kit.

The party moved downstairs to finish the evening with the movie, Madeline.  Hadley wanted to make sure there was enough time to watch the entire movie since the other years they didn’t get to see the ending on her movie night birthday parties.  We were in a tight time crunch but they made it.  Start to finish.  They watched it and gave it raving reviews.  It’s now Mia and Morgan’s favorite movie.

As great as her party was,  I think she would have been just as happy with just this . . . 

It was a really cold and windy afternoon.  The owner told us about a park we could take him to that was only a few miles away.  We got there and saw signs posted everywhere “No dogs allowed in park.”  So we drove across the street and ran around on the grass in front of some business offices.  Morgan had as much fun seeing Zeus again as Hadley.  They ran all around with him until they were too cold and we drove him back to his house.  It was hard to say good bye again but I thought there was a lot of closure with seeing how happy he is in his new home and how much his owner loves him.

In honor of her 11th Birthday -- 11 things that make Hadley unique.

1.  This girl has earned the name of “sister”.  I couldn’t ask for a kinder, more loving big sister to Morgan, Griffin and Mia.  She is always looking for ways to include them and show them love.  She patiently shares a bedroom with Morgan which means a few compromises but she rarely complains.  She takes time to go on bike rides, jump on the trampoline, read books, color and craft with the kids.  She even made one of her birthday gifts and gave it to Morgan for having a good day at school.  And she loves supporting Morgan at her cheering competitions.  She is Morgan’s biggest fan!

2.  She remembers everyone’s birthday in the family and does something to make it special.   I think this is her favorite way to spend her babysitting money . . . on others.

3.  She wanted her own make up for her birthday so she wouldn't have to borrow mine anymore for performances.

4.  She gets to perform in San Francisco this summer with her singing group.

5.  She is always humming.  Background noise makes me stress out so I feel like I am constantly asking her to please stop humming.  But it really is one of my favorite traits.  It’s just one more reminder that she is always happy and positive.

6.  She is independent.

7.  She started babysitting this past year and really enjoys it.  She wanted to do it for free so everyone would call her first.  She’s really excited to babysit her baby cousins one day.

8.  She LOVES to read.  I told her she could see The Hunger Games movie if she had read the book.  She read it in a few days and finished the series before I even started the first book.

9.  She’s now old enough to go to the maturation program at school.  I wasn’t sure what to expect but actually enjoyed the program.  We had a great presenter who made lots of jokes and made it fun and  we both survived.

10.  She’s in her last year of Primary and excited to finally finish everything for her Faith In God award.  I am her Activity Days leader and after a rough start, we’ve got a good thing going and I am loving being in there with her and Morgan.

11.  She’s an early riser, just like her daddy.  She likes to wake up a few hours before she needs to be somewhere to ensure she has enough time to get ready.  She hates being late.  Anywhere.

Happy 11th Birthday to the sweetest girl, Hadley!  We love you!

Cruisin'

I love vacations and look for any excuse to get away and Christmas was the perfect opportunity.  One of the kids Christmas gifts was a family vacation -- a cruise to the Mexican Riviera.  We were originally going with Gavin’s parents and some friends and their kids.  Our friends had a change of plans and ended up going a month before we did.  I was disappointed and wondered how the kids would do without any friends and just each other.  It ended up being perfect.  I loved having just our little family and the grandparents.  It was fun all being together and everyone got along really well.  As my teenage boys get older, I feel like I see them less and less.  They prefer hanging out with their friends on the weekends.  When they are home, they’re usually in the basement with friends and playing Xbox.  So it was fun just to have each other for the week.  No friends.  No cell phones.  No computer.  No Xbox.  Just family.

The day before the cruise, we drove straight to Long Beach, California.  The kids did great, we only had 2 short stops and made good time.  The ride to our destination is always so much easier than the ride back home.  That one seemed to last forever and the kids started fighting and screaming about 5 minutes into the long ride home.

We spent the night at the hotel and had a few hours before we needed to get on the ship.  We decided to explore downtown Long Beach and The Pike area.  It was a beautiful day, sunny and blue skies.  The kids tried out the ferris wheel and carousel at The Pike then it was time to board the ship.

We made it through security.  Got our pictures taken for our room keys.  Found our rooms and explored the ship.  We didn’t waste any time.  We unloaded our stuff and found the buffet for a little snack.  We spent the first two days at sea.  Eating, sleeping, hottubbing, and playing.  The younger kids loved the kids club and wanted to spend every minute there.

We had a ‘girls room’ and a ‘boys room’.  The girls got the bigger, nicer room.  The boys got the smaller, no window room.  We appreciated their generosity.

Our first stop was Cabo San Lucas.  Now that cruise ships don’t go to Mazatlan anymore, they dock in Cabo for two days.  We spent the first day at Lover’s Beach.  It feels like you’re inside a postcard.  Very picturesque.  It’s not covered with vendors and out on it’s own, a little island.  We took a water taxi out to the beach and spent most of the day.  It started to get windy in the afternoon and colder so everyone was ready to head back to the boat a few hours early.

“Oh yah!”  This girl loves the beach!

Mia loves to find ‘treasures’ on the beach.  For some reason, most of her treasures involve alcohol.  Last year it was an empty mini bottle.  This year . . . cerveza with a little something extra in the bottom of the bottle.

Griffin was really curious about the ‘orange’ in the bottom of the bottle.  “Mom, can we get this orange out and eat it?"

We spent our second day on a busier beach in Cabo.  This was the warmest day of the week and the kids had so much fun playing in the water and sand.  There were also lots of vendors so Mia got to fulfill her only wish for the trip.  Braids.  When we were on the water taxi on our way to the beach Mia asked me if we were going to the “braids beach” since there wasn’t anyone doing braids on the last beach.  We signed her up with the first lady that approached our taxi.  Turns out the first choice may not always be the best.  Mia’s braids were really loose and started to fall out after one day but she was happy as can be.

The boys fell for the personalized bracelets again.  They like to get a new one every year to replace the one they lost the year before, usually within the first week of being home.  Griffin got “Utah Jazz” on his, Ryan “Bengals”, and Jack “Cabo San Lucas”.  Gavin got “I love Heather” or maybe he didn’t get one.  Not sure.

We were serenaded by this local band.  Music was okay.  Dancing not so much.

Griffin saw this pirate the day before and made sure to get a dollar on the second day so he could get his picture with this real pirate!

It was so fun to have Nan and Papa all to ourselves for the week.  They didn’t even act like they cared when we all joined them in the fancy dining room for dinner.  They were patient with all of the melt downs and messes.  And the kids loved being with them too.

Our last stop was Puerto Vallarta.  It was a beautiful  cloudy, cold day.  We spent it at a resort, enjoying their pools and pina coladas.  

Went to the new boardwalk to sightsee and shop.  The kids loved all of the souvenirs and searched for the perfect gift to take home.  Sombreros, key chains, guitars, sunglasses, purses, jewelry, ponchos.  The possibilities were endless.

Jack, Hadley and Griffin chose ponchos.  Now that we’re home, I’m wishing we would’ve gotten these for all of the kids.  They’re perfect for that in between weather.  So are hoodies but look how cute they look in them!

Even though the sun was hidden behind the clouds most of the day, it delivered moments before heading back to our ship with a beautiful sunset.

The last two days were spent on the ship.  Eating and eating.  The kids loved the endless food and options.  We finally had to put a stop to room service after too many juice spills and food all over the beds and floors.

The highlight for most of the kids was the endless supply of soft serve ice cream cones.

We made it to the formal dining room, The Black Pearl, a few times too.  Jack wanted to be adventurous and tried alligator, escargot and frog legs.  I tried the chocolate molten lava cake.  Every single night.

You see all kinds of people on cruises.  And if you’re lucky, you just might get to see Lady Gaga.

The week went by way too fast!  I wasn’t sure how a cruise would work out for our family, but it was perfect!  It was so good that I’m already ready to start planning for the next one.

Cruise Highlights:



We drove home and arrived home to this . . . SNOW and a flag for President’s Day.

Adios Mexico.  Adios Braids.