Hawaii Party–Part 1 (before the guests arrive)

Yesterday was Ally’s 9th birthday party – Hawaii was this year’s theme.

Even though Becky baked all day on Friday and last weekend we did the major decorating there was still more to do the day of the party.

Palm trees! Beth brought giant brown paper tubes, and we cut out palm leaves from green construction paper, and attached brown balloons for coconuts. This decoration was ALL Beth. The trees were fantastic.

The biggest challenge was beach balls. Beth brought some HUGE (26” diameter) beach balls. Inflating them was a battle. We tried human lung power – that was a lost cause, then we tried an air mattress pump – that was only marginally better and the noise from the pump was giving us all headaches. Beth and I took the balls to a local gas station to use the air compressor – but that was a huge failure- it was a windy day and we were freezing and blowing away and while we had some success, we got the needle for the pump stuck in the first ball. We went home. Once at home we tried a bike pump. That was exhausting but at least it was working and not a nuisance noise. Finally Beth headed outside with the pump and sat reading her kindle and pumping up the beach balls. Eventually she figured out how to adjust the valve was able to pump them up really quickly.

We tried stacking them to make a column, but the base was too unstable. Finally we just piled them in the front hall, and sent a ball home with each guest.

Every year I make Ally a photo album of 2 pictures of her each month of the year. Actual printed photos. I found her in the quiet time before guests came sitting in the living room looking at this year’s book.  She is so amazing.

Becky took a break with Cloey on the couch to rest before the party started, and Beth braided Ally’s hair.

Cloey even had a hibiscus on her harness. When everyone arrived, she went to her crate and was quiet in there the whole time.  The rest of these are pictures of the house to show the decorations. Becky was setting up in the kitchen. We served tropical smoothies (pineapple, mango, banana, vanilla yogurt and orange juice) in coconut cups.

Ally’s room was decorated with palm trees hanging from the ceiling, and surfboard garlands we made.

The beach back drop in the living room, next to the “pin the coconut on the palm tree game”.

The cake table also had leis and hibiscus for each guest, and a neat display of Jell-O with drink umbrellas in each cup.  Ally loves to make walls of streamers hanging down.  The dining table had more yummy treats – Ally asked for popcorn, and we had chocolate covered macadamia nuts, and homemade coconut bread with pineapple butter, dried mango & pineapple, and salted macadamia nuts. All on display with Ally’s birthday year photo book.

The view from the living room looking into the dining room. Al close up of Beth’s palm trees.

One night last week, Ally and I painted 2 pineapples to use as decorations. I made the wreath of drink umbrellas for the bathroom door.

Then it was time for posed pictures. Beth and Ally looked so un-natural I told them to loosen up.

This is what I got.

Our family.

Epic Cake

This year Becky actually took a day off to bake and decorate Ally’s birthday cake. For weeks Ally has been working on a drawing of the cake. Then she hit a wall for the top tier. Yes tier – she wanted 3 tiers this year for her Hawaii themed cake.

Last weekend Becky did a couple renderings of her thoughts, based on what she thought she could actually create, and I purchased a few cake decorating accents to put on the cake so we wouldn’t be trying to mold chairs out of edible modeling paste and making surfboards out of fondant.

I am thrilled to say the cake came out AMAZING. Becky did a fantastic job and Ally was thrilled.

On the left is Ally’s drawing and then on the right Becky’s ideas. Below is the baker, her daughter and the finished cake!

a 3 tiered caked with a waterfall (lined with Whoppers for boulders), bottom later the ocean with dolphins and turtles swimming in it, since we snorkeled with both of these creatures. The middle layer has the waterfall running from the top lush green tier. But the middle layer is the beach, with gold sprinkles for sand and plastic miniature surfboards as decorations. The top tier, which we have saved to celebrate with as a family on Ally’s actual birthday on Monday, is a green lush mountain with a beach on top complete with palm trees and a beach chair.  The mountain also has candy purple hibiscus flowers on it.

 

A look back thru the years of Ally’s birthday cakes.

8 Years old – Penguins   7 Years old was a weather party so the cake was a rainbow and rain.

6 years old flowers   5 years old fish cupcakes

4 Years old was an Olivia party so we made red and white cupcakes. Then at 3 Years old it was  Pinkalicous party theme so there were pink cupcakes with pink frosting.

2 years old were the famous animal cupcakes, and then on her very first birthday it was a simple cupcake. Which she did not even eat.

 

Ally is pretty standard in her requests – she wants yellow cake with buttercream frosting. It was a lot of cake this year, 2 10” + 2 8” + 2 6” tiers of cake and Becky used 4+ pounds of confectioner’s sugar on the frosting.