The Cannonball Turns Nine

Hi gang.

The dust has barely settled from the Houghs' Last Move, when all of a sudden our eight-year-old up and decided she wanted to turn nine.  Like we did for her sister, Kris and I wanted to keep it low-key this year on account of all the hectic moving/unpacking, and allowed Alayna to invite a handful of her friends over for a themed-birthday party followed by a sleepover.  As you recall, Abby's was Star Wars-themed, but Alayna wanted a Harry Potter-themed shindig.

So this is what we got. . .

Look familiar?  Basically the same sort of spread, just wizard-themed instead of awesome-themed.

(Kris loves Pinterest)

We gave Alayna a couple small gifts prior to the party starting, breaking protocol but otherwise preparing herself for the theme of the party.  She's wearing her new Hogwart's shirt. . .

. . . and this necklace is a prop from one of the movies.  It's either a love potion or a luck potion, I forget.

Alayna and her friend, Dani, check out the spread.

Pumped for another pack of kids running around the house. . .

When kids started rolling in, we quickly ushered them outside to frolic around the backyard and play in the water (weather was gorgeous - which you clearly can't tell from these first few pics that Kris took because she didn't adjust the White Balance of the SLR.)

(Camera White Balance fixed, courtesy of Yours Truly.)

This dog is obnoxious.

Taking a break from the water shenanigans to dry out in the sun and eat some snackage (check out Abby, mid-tantrum.)

Opposed to a big birthday cake, Kris opted instead for wizard hat cupcakes (courtesy of Pinterest, of course.)

The crew

Mandatory crazy faces

Mom and John stopped by for a little bit to celebrate her birthday and drop off some presents, like they did at Abby's, but the amount of kids - and volume - promptly drove them off after awhile.  You can't blame 'em.

Neither of us wanted to go through the fiasco of tie-dying shirts again, but Kris still wanted to do a craft for Alayna's party.  She once again hopped on Pinterest and found an upload (or whatever it's called) that showed how to make Harry Potter-ish wizard wands out of chopsticks.

Kids used glue sticks and beads to add texture and designs to their chopstick wand.  Then, when it dried, they painted them brown.

The gift-giving begins (needless to say, as evident by the pics and video, this was considerably more animated than Abby's.)

 

She's been asking for NumNums (yes, that's a real thing) for about a year now, but Kris and I have refused to buy them (they're basically scented Shopkins, and we hate Shopkins enough as it is.)   Alas, we can't really stop other people from buying them for her. 

You can imagine how much fun this one was having watching her sister open presents.

 

 

One of the gifts Alayna got this year was Just Dance 4 for the Wii U.  It was a solid hit with the kiddos.

The next morning, following a not-too-crazy sleepover with her crew, the girls' wands were dried and ready to go.

Like her sister, Alayna got an Our Generation doll, which she had been asking for since Abby got hers.  I honestly don't think she'll play with it at all, but just wanted it because her sister had one.  This why we buy our kids the $40 Target version instead of the $100 American Girl doll.

 

Who the hell are they keeping out of these frickin' things?  It was like cracking a safe.

We also got her an mp3 player, just like we got Abby.  At all times, the scales must be balanced.

That's all for kids parties this year, Internet - we've successfully made it through the early Summer gauntlet.  Thank f***ing God.

- Brian