Hawaiian Party

Aloha friends and family,

I ordered a few cars to complete Easton's Cars 2 racing collection, but realized they were the larger sized cars (not the matchbox size).  He found the incorrect order and I thought he would like them so much I would have to upsize his entire collection.  However, he gave a disappointed shrug and said, "oh look!  BIG pop-pop bubbles!" (bubble wrap) 10 minutes later he was still fascinated by the bubble wrap and I let out a sigh of relief knowing I still only have a couple of cars left to complete his collection.

We are excited Ouma and Oupa are in town for a week of vacation with us!  One of the must-do outings was to go hiking with Oupa.  We made it further than we ever hiked before.  Luckily there was only one speed bump during the trip.  We stopped at the summit to give the twins a pee break.  Talk about the ultimate facepalm...  As we reached the top and jumped around like Rocky Balboa, it hit me.  That scary "oh no" moment when I realize Easton and Layla didn't go pee before we left.

10 seconds after I mentioned the oversight to Oupa both of them gave the one-minute warning of the exploding bladder.  Layla made a mess of the situation because I fail to comprehend the proper way to make a suitable seat out of my arms for her.  Easton was 2 inches from peeing in his face because we were both laughing so hard about his ten foot stream.  Do you know how hard it is to give directional advice to a giggling, peeing four-year-old?  Good times...

The nightly bed time rituals are out the window now that we have so many willing and able adults in the house for bed time.  One last wresting match with Oupa before winding down?  Of course.

The official birthday party for Easton and Layla finally came to pass after celebrating their birthday for two weeks.  It should be called a "birthmonth" for our two party animals.  

For unknown reasons Easton and Layla wanted a Hawaiian Luau party.  Not princesses, not cars, not cartoon characters...  Hawaii.  Kendra and I are all about making their dreams come true so why not?  Morgan added her personal touch and knowledge of Hawaiian culture by creating our door sign to welcome guests.

Kendra and Ouma and Christy turned our backyard into a Hawaiian paradise with a food spread of epic proportions.  

 Tam blessed us with her creative talents by providing her artistic face painting services.  As you can see she was a big hit and great success based on the line of kids who were more excited about getting their face painted than playing the other games.

Layla likes cats.  She pretends to be a kitty with Easton and that was the first choice on her list of how to have her face painted.

We invited an eclectic mix of friends.  Mostly people (kids) who are a part of Easton and Layla's life.  Rather than meet the obligations of inviting all of their classmates or our friends we decided to invite people who mean the most to the twins.  Here is Will's mom and Colton's mom with Kendra. 

There was some reference to a show called "the new girl" or something like that for the picture of Marisue and Kendra.  

Kendra baked homemade cupcakes with umbrellas instead of a traditional cake.  The frosting was the best part.  I know this because kids were licking it off like the creamy center of an oreo cookie before devouring the cake part.

We sang Happy Birthday separately, once for each kid.  Instead of giving them each a party we just gave each one the chance to hear their own birthday song.

Always good to have Scott and Marisue hang out with us.  Now they have their own set of twins so our time together is even more limited than when it was just us trying to juggle life and twins.  We are glad to see the four of them with their healthy hearts.

Easton made a new friend today.  Her name is Payton and she is the sister of Layla's friend Lulu.  Easton and Payton have the same personality type (calm, aware, mature) which led to an incredibly quick forming friendship.  They met, realized the other person was similarly even keeled, then played together for a couple of hours among the chaotic crazies.   

Today as he and I climbed South Mountain he said, "I miss Payton.  She is my friend."  I can't argue with that!

Kendra's ingenious idea for a party included a bounce house with a slide.  That turned out to be the single most awesome focal point for any kid-friendly birthday party I've ever been to.  Kids of all ages bounced and slid the day away for over three hours.  The twins will remember this day forever because of the extraordinary fun environment and also the coolest bounce house (rented) they've ever seen.

We also threw in some other fun games including boccie ball and hula hoops.  Kendra and I will never get too old to have fun.  Maturing is knowing when to act like a kid.  :)  

Speaking of acting like a kid...  The day was all about Easton and Layla even more than normal at the Casa de Webb.  After the crowd died down I joined in for the sliding and bouncing.  Easton's smile and happiness about riding down the slide together with me made the whole day worth the expense and effort.  This is what I call getting down on his level and engaging him for the sole purpose of showing him love.

Life is an adventure and some days are more adventurous than others.  See you soon!