Dayne's Surprise Birthday Party!

Okay, so Dayne's 8th birthday was a month ago ... like usual, I am late! I wanted to make up for her party being a month late (for the record, we were busy in the weeks proceeding her birthday - FL visit, then she went to IA for a week). A few weeks ago I got this crazy idea to plan a surprise spa-themed birthday party for her! In anticipation of "someday" having a birthday party, Dayne had already created a list of friends to invite, so I was set!

The girls started arriving about 1:00 on Saturday. Dayne went to spend the week with Zoe in Joplin so we coordinated our timing to have her arrive home about 2:00. The girls were so anxious while waiting for Dayne to arrive! We went through several scenarios of how to shout 'SURPRISE' when she arrived and agreed to have me yell to her as she came through the door to "come see Mamma!" and on my queue of waving to her, the girls jumped out and yelled "SURPRISE!!" It went off without a hitch! Dayne was very, very surprised. Actually, clueless might be a better word. She seemed to have no idea why all her friends were at her house!

After Dayne got a grip on what was happening, I told them all the fun things I had planned for them that day, night and next morning! They didn't understand the value of it, but I even had a matrix of planned events down to the time! It proved to be a wise investment of my time - we didn't have ANY fights or whine fests!

Our first planned event was a trip to the pool! We spent about 2 hours at the pool ... the girls had the pool to themselves fo the first half hour or so, but then only 4 other kids came - it was perfect 'cause then I didn't have to worry about hogging the whole pool!

The girls played chicken, styled their hair like "George Washington's wife" (that's Olivia) and ... made boobs. How do 8 year old girls make boobs? Well, I learned they blow air into their swimsuits and they make boobs. Who knew?

After the pool we had dinner - tacos! The girls ate amazingly good - not the finicky little prissy girls I expected!

Next we went on a neighborhood Scavenger Hunt. We broke up into two groups and each group headed seperate ways to find houses that would be interested in helping the girls collect common household items. Some of the more unique things on the list we were able to collect: a used sock, an old toothbrush and a baby diaper (clean!). The girls - and the neighbors - had a great time on the hunt. All the girls were winners so they were all given a prize of a purse filled with spa themed goodies! Lots of squeels ensued when they saw their goodie handbag!

After the Scavenger Hunt we had cake and ice cream and chocolate covered strawberries - Dayne's favorite! Following cake an ice cream Dayne opened her birthday presents from her friends! She got lots of make up, a High School Musical singing Barbie, Hannah Montana make up and lots of other exciting things!

Next, we headed upstairs to my bathroom and had a foot spa treatment! Each girl had their own foot bath (okay, really it was just a large popcorn bowl!) complete with a bath fizzy and foot mask! Then I walked them through each of the steps for a pedicure - filing nails, filing any rough spots
(they pretended to have some!), trimming their nails and finally, painting their nails! They had nail jewels in their spa-purse so they dazzled their nails with jewels, too!

Following the excitement of spa therapy the girls started to settle down (although they didn't actually go to sleep 'til about 3am!). They watched the video I made of them surprising Dayne, swimming, and all the other events of the day. Then they watched "Firehouse Dog" while they snacked on popcorn and candy! Some time later, they actually fell asleep.

I woke the girls about 8:30 Sunday morning and made them smily face pancakes for breakfast. After breakfast they went back downstairs to watch the new episode of Hannah Montana, then came back up to decorate picture frames to capture their memories from the party!

When they finished their frames they got dressed, brushed their hair and teeth and got ready to have their individual picture taken with Dayne - to put in their new picture frame!

They looooved playing with Oz! And Oz was in heaven - 16 adoring hands petting him!

Dayne and Shay

Dayne and Lauren

Dayne and Olivia

Dayne and Aubrey

Dayne and Jeannine

Dayne and Amanda

Dayne and Parker

The girls plotting out their next activity . . .

After photo time was over, they got their swim suits on and played in the sprinkler (and made boobs!).

The party came to a close around 1:00 when Moms and Grandmas came to pick up their girls! It was a great party and I am glad Dayne has such good friends! They did so well that I told them we might be able to do this again sometime! Most of the girls are going to the new school this year, so this was a nice one-last hoorah for them!

Thank you to Olivia, Aubrey, Parker, Zoe, Amanda, Lauren, Jeannine and Shay for coming to the party! I hope you all had a blast!

Dayne and Zoe Time ~*~

Dick and Marilyn called on Tuesday night to see if Dayne wanted to come spend a few days with them in Joplin. We drove down to Joplin Tuesday night and had a nice dinner with them at Cheddars. Dayne and Zoe plan to swim on Wednesday, minature golfing on Thursday and go to a Hawaiian Luau with Zoe's church on Friday! Sounds like a lot of fun!

Dayne called on Wednesday night and sounded very sad ... she misses us! She cried into the phone, "I want youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu." It was quite sad to listen to ;(. But, I trust she will get over it after some sleep and more exciting things come along!

Dick and Marilyn are bringing Dayne home on Saturday afternoon ... where a surprise awaits her! Check back on Monday for details!

Dayne

Dayne had her BFF, Lauren, stay the night last night. They stayed up 'til 2:30am watching High School Musical and surfing the net looking for cute puppies, dolls and dressing up Hannah Montana!

I finally woke them up about 11:30 this morning ... with the help of Oz!

We went to the pool and Dayne and Lauren had a blast! They even took me up on a challenge to meet a new friend ... okay, I had to bribe them with Dairy Queen. : )

Hunter's Summer

Poor Hunter! He has been busy every morning (except Fridays) since school got out! He attended weight lifting training for the past 8 weeks. Last week he attended football camp to focus on football plays and training. Both camps are hosted by the local Junior and High school coaches.

Other than having to get up at 7am to attend camp, Hunter has seemed to enjoy the camps and they have really paid off! He is a nice, buff 150 lbs now! He is as tall as I am (5' 8"), his hands are bigger than mine and he can wear Graden's shoes! Between the working out and being in the sun, he's a nice buff, tan young man!

Crazy to think how big my baby is getting!

School starts on August 22nd and he is already dreading it. I suppose we can all remember what those days are like. He likes school, but also likes the freedom to sleep in and do as he pleases! He stays very busy playing neighborhood baseball, swimming and just hangin' out with his friends - TJ, Zach, Alex and Matt.

Aside from the family vacation to Dog Island, FL, Hunter has gone to TJ's lake house with his family. He keeps busy and some days it seems he only comes home to eat and sleep!

Dog Island, Florida Vacation

What is Dog Island? I am sure you are asking this so let me tell - and SHOW - you all about Dog Island!

Dog Island is located in the northwestern Florida Gulf coast partly sheltering St. George Sound and Apalachicola Bay. It is the eastern-most part of a chain of barrier islands located off the northern panhandle of Florida. The island is small (7 miles long, 1 mile wide) and remote, accessible only by boat, ferry or airplane.

Graden's aunt and uncle (right) own a cottage on the island and were gracious enough to host us from July 9 - 13. It was one of the best vacactions I have ever had ... and certainly the most relaxing! Our days centered around eating, going to the beach, playing cards, watching the storms roll in and out, eating, going to the beach, chit-chatting, eating, going to the beach .... I think you get how it was relaxing!

Let me show you the island ...

Upon arrival to the island there is a sign with the rules of the island as well as some information about the island and island contacts.
Ashleigh, Gretchen, T.J. and Tiffany

The cottage as viewed from the beach.

The roads on the island. There was not one paved road, in fact, there was only one road and it was made completely of soft, white sand!

We showered in an outside shower. The water had an interesting (read: sulpher) odor, but I decided that just added to the whole experience!

During our stay on the island we encountered two scorpions! They were little (less than 2 inches) but still very unwelcome!

The kids playing cards, waiting for the afternoon storm to pass by.

Dayne and TJ, buried in the sand!

Graden and Hunter went fishing and ended up catching a baby Blacktip Shark! One of several, I later learned.

This is the pond the island 'gator lives in. There are two small ponds on the island that the 'gator travels to and from. He minds his business ... and we mind ours!

Dick and Graden relaxing on the porch, watching the waves come in and out. No doubt they were talking about their plans for the next fishing expedition ...

Dayne taking a nap on the beach. She dug her a little spot lay her weary little head (or, she might have been pouting because the boys wouldn't play with her. It was hard to keep up at times!).

Even Graden took a little time to play in the sand ... and go for a swim with his favorite nephew, T.J.



Big Sissy and Lil' Sissy! XOXOXO

Taking a break from the sun ... Dayne slowed down to take a nap in the swinging chair.

The kids learned to drive ... well, sort of. They all took turns driving the go cart. Hunter did a great job but the "babies" had some struggles. TJ did a 90 degree turn ... I swear the cart was on two wheels at one point! When Dayne got her chance to drive the cart, she refused to listen to Hunter and take her foot off the gas pedal so we came flying into the drive and almost took out the flamingo in the yard! I had to physically remove her foot from the gas pedal to save the flamingo! Needless to say, it was hysterical!

During our stay on the island we had a very special visitor - The Tooth Fairy! T.J. lost his first (and second!) tooth while on the island! T.J. was very impressed and happy that the Tooth Fairy would travel all that way!

This is just a picture of my foot! This represents the relaxing time I had!

: ( .... we depart Dog Island ... this is the ferry that took us back to the mainland (Carrabelle, FL).

A very special thank you to Dick and Marilyn for sharing their wonderful beach cottage on Dog Island with us. This was the best family vacation we have ever had!

{{ Hugs }}