Since her birthday was on Saturday and Mark teaches Taekwondo at the YMCA, we decided renting the party room at the YMCA and taking Evie and her friends swimming was a great idea. And it was! Evie had six friends join her: two from Taekwondo, two from homeschooling circles, and two friends of the family. Their brothers joined them as well and all had a great time on the water slide and in the pool.
I've never rented a facility for a party before, but I have to say, renting the party room at the YMCA is one of the best ideas we've had yet. The room was right next to the pool so the parents (and grandparents) could watch the kids swim, Lula and Heidi could run around in the room with balloons, and the staff was so helpful and friendly!
The kids played in the pool for an hour and then came back in the room for a quick snack of cupcakes, oranges, grapes, juice, and pretzels. And presents of course!
I took all these pictures with my new phone. I'm surprised how well they turned out considering the artificial light. Usually these kind of pictures would be completely blurry (instead of partially) or I would have to use the flash and completely ruin the shot.
Lula gave Evie the best birthday present ever. Ian, Shane, and Evie decided to sleep down by the fire Friday night, so I woke them up nice and early (7:00ish) when Lula and I went down to snuggle in my favorite chair. Lula started crawling all over Evie trying to wake her up. I told her to be gentle and say, "Happy Birthday, Evie." She babbled something and Evie picked her head up, just in time for Lula to give her a big hug. She turned to me and signed "hug" and said, "Luf Evie!" Isn't that sweet? This is the first time she has said she loves anyone and she chose Evie on her birthday!
Evie got many nice and thoughtful presents from her friends as well including Pokemon cards, a horse painting kit, a knitting kit, and money.
We love this girl! Happy 9th Birthday Darling!
