Poppy Turns 70!

This past weekend we celebrated Poppy’s 70th birthday with a dinner party with family and some friends.  My mom had the great idea of turning the house into a diner and serving “tastings” of some of my dad’s favorite foods.  So, while the house was being prepared for the party, Mark, Garland, Bo, and Pops went golfing and the party preparations began.

 

This was the list of courses that each person was going to get.  All of them were some of Poppy’s favorite foods, and my mom did a great job of mapping out the menu and planning how to keep all the courses flowing smoothly.

All the grandaughters were supposed to be the waitresses for the party, and all were so excited to be a part. Unfortunately, just before we were to head over to the house to help get ready for the party, Nina got sick with the stomach bug, so she was understandably devastated not to be able to help out. The other four looked so cute and did a really great job as waitresses – passing the appetizers, getting drinks for the guests, and serving all the different courses to the guests.

Mouse even had a special shirt made for Pops to wear during the party…

…and when the guys got back from golfing, Poppy was greated by some enthusiastic girls!

  

The party was such a wonderful event.  The theme was so fun and creative, and all the guests really seemed to enjoy themselves.

I felt so bad for Nina who was miserable for the entirety of the evening.  She ended up feeling better later the next day, but she was so disappointed to miss out on the fun of the party.

We finished the evening by playing a little game of guess if the celebrity is older or younger than Poppy, and when all was said and done we were stuffed from all the eating and sufficiently wiped out from the busy day.  However, the party was a huge success, and we were so glad for a fun evening to celebrate how much we love Pops and are thankful for his 70th birthday!

 

Halloween 2015

Halloween has come and gone, and here we are in November.  It’s hard to believe.  Yesterday’s Halloween activities included Lyla’s last soccer game of the season.  It was her last and her best game yet.  This girl was on fire – scoring goals, playing defense, and showing quite a bit of skill.  Clearly, I’m biased, but she felt great about show she played, and we were happy to see her so proud of herself. 

 

We celebrated the end of the season with donuts and cupcakes – just what every kid needs on Halloween! 

We had a little bit of down time after the game, then it was time to get dressed and ready to head out trick or treating.  The previous night, the girls and Mark carved our family pumpkin.  Despite hating the fresh pumpkin smell, the girls helped take out the inside, then Mark got to work carving.  We were quite impressed with his wolf.  I think it’s his best one yet!

 

For Halloween this year, we had Athena, the Greek goddess, and a ninja!  Both costumes really fit the personalities of the girls – they are so different!

  

There were a handful of houses that had turned their garages (and one, the whole house) into haunted houses.  The girls weren’t too keen on trying them out, but we did walk by and check them out from across the street. 

Cayenne came with us and even got a handed out a dog treat! The girls collected a ton of candy, saw some spooky characters, saw friends, and were wiped out not long after 8:00. 

  

We arrived back home to our webs not glowing (as they were supposed to) and an empty candy bowl (what we expected) so, with the girls tired, we passed out some more candy to the last of the trick or treaters and called it a night.  It was a fun night!!

Halloween Party 2015

It’s taken me a little while to get this post together because I had a little difficulty with my blog program, so I’m catching up a bit.  One highlight of our last weekend was the awesome Halloween party at Mousey and Poppy’s house.  It was the perfect evening for an outdoor party, and the kids (and adults) had an absolute blast!  Our girls and the Williams girls were in attendance with some mutual friends of both of ours, and even a few dogs to go with it!

The activities for the kids started with a scavenger hunt of “bones” out in the field, and that was followed by some toilet paper mummy making.

  

After the first two activities, the kids ate some Halloween party food then got ready for the donut on a string activity.  They had to race to see who could finish the donut fastest without using their hands.  That’s an activity I think I could have excelled at!!

  

The next big event was the magic show put on by Madame Vanish and her assistant, Lucious. 

  

The magic show was quite impressive.  Madame Vanish and Lucious have quite the entertaining act!  After wowing the kids with several impressive tricks, they really topped it with their grand finale – the levitation of Lucious.  This video doesn’t quite do it justice as it’s a little far away, but the levitation act was most definitely the highlight of the show.  Check it out here: https://youtu.be/JCPmZTh4cLs  Madame Vanish and Lucious definitely inspired several young budding magicians. 

With the buzz from the magic show still brewing, the kids then headed down to the woods for their haunted woods walk.

 

In addition to all the props in the woods, there were several characters waiting in various places to jump out and scare and little party goers who happened to walk by.

  

 

After all the kids got their turn on the haunted woods walk, we all enjoyed some time sitting around the bonfire.  The kids played and ran hard in the field then tried their hand at using the props  to scare each other at their own version of the haunted woods walk.

 

 

The evening finished off with the kids having to feel some “dead things” around the bonfire, and Lyla continuing to press Poppy on the secret of how he levitated!  It was such a great party, and my parents did an amazing job of making it so fun for the kids.  We so appreciated all their hard work to create all the games, the magic show, the haunted woods, etc., to make it such a fun night of memories for the kids.  Our girls had an absolute blast, and I know we did too.  What a great night with family and friends!