A winter luau birthday

Last month Hannah turned eight. My baby. How did we get here so fast? I don’t know. All I know is that on her special day, Mama’s job is to give her a fun day that she’ll remember. There’s time to sigh and wonder where my baby went later!

Birthdays in January are tough to plan, aren’t they? I think they are. The kids can’t play outside and coming on the heals of Christmas catches me…let’s just say, not at my organized best.  But last summer, Hannah said she wanted a Luau this year. So we were able to pick up some supplies in season and start planning early. Since I’m not a super duper crafty Mama, we still kept it pretty simple. We outfitted each girl with bright color “grass” skirts, matching leis with head and wrist bands, name tags with their Hawaiian names. A luau party mix was the perfect background music for some hula hoop games and a limbo contest!

But the surprise big hit was coconut bowling. So simple to put together and the girls really liked it. All you need is a coconut and ten bottles filled part way with water. We put some pretty paper around them to match the other tropical colors! Even though it was cold outside we made the party feel more beachy by serving lunch and cake picnic style on beach towels.

After games, cake, presents, gutting the pinata and the girls went home with their goody bags the house was quiet and we gave Hannah her very special gift:  her first real guitar. As if a guitar isn’t cool enough for an eight year old. It’s not just any guitar. And it’s not a new guitar. It’s from our friend Molly, a very talented teen musician and singer that Hannah looks up to. It’s not everyday a girl gets a gift from one of her heroes!

Finally, an impromptu guitar lesson from Daddy! Happy Birthday, big girl. We’re so proud of you.