Taylor's Bouncing, Slipping, Sliding Party!

So here it is ... finally! Taylor's 6th birthday party was a little bit BIG! Taylor has always been so shy that coming up with 6-10 friends that she REALLY wanted to invite was difficult. So this year, when we started talking about names and she just kept going with people she wanted to invite, I had a hard time saying no. 21 or 22 invites later ... I figured at least 6 or 8 wouldn't show up. Oops ... all but 2 or 3 showed up! She just wanted to use the blow-up water slide in the backyard though so it was a fun, easy, outside party! Her party was on June 24th! I'm just slow getting this posted! She chose a Hawaiian theme for her Water Party!

When I realized how many kids were coming, I bought a little pool and some water guns and setup the slip-and-slide too so there would be more to do.

Tatoos were a big hit with everyone!

Cheeks, arms, shoulders ... Alyssa loved hers too!

Jessica's turn to show off!

Here is a few of the girls! Bailey, Makenna, Meghan, Ella, Joanna, Berkley and Taylor with Caitlyn (Alyssa's friend and a neighbor) in the back row.

Taylor chose to invite 5 or 6 boys. Fortunately, most of them came - I would have hated for only 1 to come although Taylor does have her favorite boy! :)

My helpers - Karianna, Alyssa and Caitlyn. (My mom was here helping too!) Couldn't have done it without them!

Present time ... it took FOREVER! When you have that many gifts to open it takes awhile anyway, but Taylor is rather particular about putting trash in the trashbag as she goes, so presents always take longer than normal with Taylor. Oh and every piece of tape and paper has to be off of the present before she can be done with it too! But Taylor was in heaven at her little Hawaiian presents table!

Jessi and their friend Paige.

We opted for cupcakes (thanks mom for making them) and pre-scooped ice cream cones! It was so much easier during the party.

Taylor's favorite - mint chocolate ice cream "green ice cream". Its always been my favorite too!

The whole crew! 22 kids, I think including my own 3 and Alyssa's friend.

Makenna loved her ice cream!

Jessi and Paige again. Aren't they cute?

Perfect example of Taylor taking off each piece of paper ... did I mention it took forever? :) I love her obsessive little preferences ... can we call them talents?

Funny thing about this present ... when Makenna brought it over she told us that one of her cute little twin brothers had stuck a knife inside the box. so could we return that when we opened it. Makenna's little brothers are almost 3 and definitely little boys that are into everything. There is a hole in the front of the box so you can touch a button on the playhouse and one of them stuck a butter knife inside it. :) I enjoyed a laugh! Michelle, I love your cute little boys!

Lots of kids on the slide.

The party really ended too soon. I should have done it for an hour longer. The kids were AMAZINGLY great. There were no arguments, no whining, no complaining ... nothing but fun and happiness. They just didn't get long enough to really play though. Several of the kids that live close enough to walk home stayed another couple of hours. It was a fun party! Sorry Steve that they played so long ... big dead spots appeared on his grass the next day - the bounce house was on it too long! But it DID recover pretty quickly and it was worth it. Taylor was truly happy with lots of friends and it was really fun to see her so at ease with so many people around. It hasn't been that long since she was so socially behind and shy that she wouldn't have wanted to even play with that many kids! I'm so proud of my big 6 year old Taylor!

I do have to tell the other half of this day though ... when I set up the slide and turned it on, I discovered it was covered with black spots ... mold. It hadn't dried out completely last year before it got put away. So... it had to be cleaned. I moved it out on the front driveway and put bleach and water in a spray bottle and sprayed and scrubbed the entire thing down. 2 hours later, I finished scrubbing and rinsing and moved it back to the backyard. Made for a crazy morning trying to get everything done. Sure grateful for help from Michelle (she watched my girls so I could do the final shopping faster) and for all the help from Karianna and my mom! Thanks everyone! Unfortunately, between the 2 hours of cleaning and 3 hours of party and another hour of clean up and watching the kids play ... I was FRIED to a crisp! Oops - should have put that sunscreen on earlier!