Beach Bash Birthday Blast

Yes, it has been almost two weeks since Sweetpea's birthday party. But first there was Fay, then there was all the Vicodin following my gum surgery. A post while on Vicodin could have been interesting. My children have told me I was "loopy". Then again, it could have been incoherent.

Anywho, Sweetpea is now 11 years old. That is very difficult for me to even comprehend. How did I get a child that old? I can't possibly even be old enough to have an 11 year old child.

Sweetpea suggested having her birthday party at the beach this year. My in-laws have a sweet friend who owns a condo at the beach. He lets us use his condo whenever we want, provided no one else is already there, of course. So, we asked if we could use it for the birthday bash. Sweetpea invited 3 friends, and we let the Princess invite one friend so she wouldn't be left out of all the fun. And so she wouldn't bug the heck out of her big sister or count on Mommy and Daddy as her sole source of entertainment.

The only problem was the timing. Sweetpea's birthday is always right about the time school starts. We had the condo from Thursday through Sunday. BUT, although each of her friends goes to a different school, all the schools in this area were having their "Meet the Teacher Day" on Friday afternoon. That meant we would go out on Thursday, drive back on Friday to meet our girls' teachers, pick up the party guests from three different locations, drop Little Man off with his Nana, drive back to the beach, PARTY, drive three of the four girls back home on Saturday afternoon, pick the Little Man up from his Nana, drive back to the beach, try to relax a little, get up Sunday, clean the condo, drive back to Nana's for Sweetpea's family birthday dinner, take the last birthday guest home, go home, try to get to bed a decent hour because the first day of school was the very next day! There...I got tired just typing it!

The kids and I went out to the beach late Thursday afternoon. It had been a rushed, hectic day, trying to get everyone packed. Packing for a baby is not an easy task. I also took the girls to Justice Just for Girls to get new outfits for the first day of school. By the time we got to the beach, I was tired, hot, sweaty and cranky. This is what I saw after we walked out on the beach:

I could physically feel my self relaxing.

We went to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants that night, then I fell asleep watching the Olympics on TV. I just happened to wake up in time to see this:

Then I went back to sleep.

Friday morning, Little Man got his first experience in the pool. He LOVED it.

We went to Meet the Teacher on Friday and were pleased with the teachers our girls got. Then we gathered up our crew and went back to the beach for the party to begin. They all had a great time aside from a few hurt feelings having to do with who wanted to hear ghost stories and who did not. In the end, everyone made up. Sweetpea got her Vera Bradley backpack she had begged for. Plus another Vera bag that her mother may steal from her. She also got enough bath and body products to keep her smelling sweet (read: overwhelming migraine inducing stink) until her next birthday.

Even the little girls had fun.

But, what kind of person packs duct tape for a slumber party anyway?