Birthday Fun x 2 {Cousins!}

It's always fun when the cousins come to visit. Especially when there's a BIRTHDAY involved!

Happy Birthday Gregory!!! (turning six!)

Happy Birthday Ava! (who turned four recently)

Don't those two look delighted?

Check out these cupcakes we made for the party!!! They're RAINBOW! Don't you like the idea of eating a rainbow? Somehow I find it very appealing. Maybe that's just me though.(this idea was taken straight from a recent FamilyFun magazine). Cream cheese frosting...yummy goodness!Check out my funny homemade pinata! Ava wanted one and I really didn't want to spring for one at the store...so I made my own! Yes, it looks more like a hornet's nest. Trust me...it's not! (the base was a large balloon and then we gobbed newspapers soaked in a flour & water mixture (1 part flour: 2 parts water..I think). I made this Friday night and the party was Saturday so in order to dry it in one day we hung it up over my utility sink in the laundry room and used a small space heater to help dry it. No problem! It was dry the next morning.

Ava is contemplating whacking the pinata. All the kids got a turn to whack at it (even young Henry). I think it was Lily who finally broke it.
The blur is Lily....moving fast!

Henry found a blow toy thingy.

The big kids sort through the confetti, pirate stickers, small cans of Play Doh, and blow toy thingies (all on sale or stuff I had already).

The kids spent most of Saturday outside playing in the sunshine (Annika and Lily spent most of the day making a fort). Or playing games on the wii inside. Or playing with Rudy (the cousins' very cute and very soft puppy; ack..no photos of him!). They also made this "boat"......

One of the kids (perhaps Lily?) had an excellent idea...to make a boat by rubbing wax (ie crayon; to make it water tight) all over a cardboard box. They got to test it in our sandbox pond on Sunday.

DUCK!!! Watch out for flying snowballs!

Recorder music makes the littlest ones extra bouncy. Especially when they have balloons.

Or when they have a scarf to toss up into the air.

See? Henry is extra bouncy! We had a blast with the cousins! We even went swimming at the YMCA on Sunday afternoon. I think that's the best way to tire out a bunch of kids & stimulate their appetites! Hooray for Ava eating her meal without any issues. Thank you Aunt Beth, Uncle Ray, Lily, Gregory, Henry and Rudy for coming!