Claire’s Watercolor Party

Claire chose to have a paint party this year, and we had fun planning and preparing for it together.

Grandmom made this sign, (and Claire was trying not to blink in this picture!)

Grandmom also got her some balloons. (She requested balloons tied to her chair).

Here’s how it looked before the party started:

Claire and I painted those coffee filters, and then we taped them to a ribbon to make the banner.

She also helped me assemble the favors and prepare the tables.

I looked at a number of different blogs to come up with this finished product. I like how it turned out!

Here we are just before the party started! (Notice that Dayton is wearing blue). 

It’s paint time!

(Notice that Dayton’s in yellow now? He tried to walk on top of the pool cover, fell, and got completely wet. Silly boy).

I found some watercolor pencils that you color with, and then you can paint over the color with a wet paintbrush, and it makes the color look like watercolor. I really liked them, and so did the kids.

We did salt painting, too. I drew pictures with glue, put salt on the glue, and let them dry. Painting on a different texture was fun.

Then it was cake time! Claire wanted to have cupcakes that everyone could “paint” with sprinkles. (And just in case you care, no additional sprinkles were purchased for this party. We already had a variety of sprinkles to use in these palates!)

Dayton was ready for his cupcake!

Let the painting begin!

And the eating, too.

I love the photobomb!

Next, Claire opened her presents.

And finally, the kids swung at a piñata.

Uncle Peter finally finished it off!

We had a great time at the party!

Claire’s Birthday!

Claire is six years old! She wanted sausage biscuits for breakfast. (Who’s surprised? Anybody? Didn’t think so).

There was no school on her birthday, so she (and Dayton) helped me make the cupcakes for her party.

We went to Cane’s for her birthday lunch. Jordan was able to make it from work, and Grandma made it in time, too! 

After this, we got ready for the party!

Easter Eggs

We dyed Easter eggs one day when Laura and her kids were over. And look! Jordan helped, too! (Probably because Claire asked him!)

Trying to get kids to smile for a picture is sometimes futile when there’s something much more entertaining to focus on!

The aftermath:

And the finished product:

Alabambam

We met Stephen, Mel, and their boys in Alabama for an anesthesia conference that Jordan and Stephen attended. We told Dayton we were going to Alabama, and he kept saying Alabambam. It stuck. :-) After about 12 hours in the car on Thursday, we were thrilled to stretch our legs and do things on Friday! Because the weather was cold and rainy, we went to a naval museum in Pensacola and watch an Imax film.

We had planned to look around the museum after that, but we were hungry, so we left for lunch. We had planned on coming back after lunch, but Jordan and Stephen were finished for the day, so we decided to head back to the hotel. But first, we stopped at an amazing park. We stayed through the sprinkles and left when the rain came down more.

We enjoyed dinner at the Acme Oyster House. Mel and I took the kids to the indoor pool that night, but so did everyone else who had been stuck inside (and not on the beach) because of the rain that day. So we didn’t stay too long. That’s okay. The kids were tired!

Saturday morning the sun was shining! So we went to the beach! The water was cold, but it wasn’t raining! I was so happy see the sunshine because the kids really wanted to go to the beach.

The kids and I met Jordan for lunch at the pizza place at the hotel, and then we rested in the room. When Jordan and Stephen were finished, (and after waiting for the car)...

...we played Putt Putt golf.

After playing some arcade games, we tried to find a good place to eat without an hour wait. This was the best we could do. The food was great, but we were freezing! It’s a good thing I needed to get some more steps in for the day; I walked back and forth across the front of the shopping center where we were waiting.

We had to leave Sunday morning, but I wanted a picture of the view from our balcony first. (Dayton’s actually crying in this scene, but it kind of looks like he’s smiling). 

It was a short trip - with a long drive to get there! So to make our long drive home better, we went through Baton Rouge and stopped at Fat Cow! We were only there long enough to eat. We still had a LONG drive ahead of us. (Next time, I hope I can see my Baton Rouge friends!!!!)