Ava’s Under-the-Sea 5th Birthday Party

Ava’s 5th birthday party was an Under-the-Sea theme, centered around, of course- Ariel, The Little Mermaid. She had actually said that was the theme she wanted last year after her Princess themed party, I just knew she would change her mind, but when I asked her a few months before her birthday she was still wanting an Ariel party. She helped me get some decorations together.



Octopops- mean ole Ursala!



Sand Dollar Oreos



Marshmallow Pops



Goldfish and the biggest hit of the party I didn’t even take a close up picture of (darn me!) was the ‘Pearls’ which were really just sixlets that had a pearl coating. All the kids loved those things, (and the adults too).



Lulu made Ava’s cake and it turned out great! She loved it. It was exactly what she wanted!



I have a confession to make. Ava’s birthday is at the beginning of September, and we have a pool, its so very hard for me to think of having anything other than a pool party! I mean, why spend the extra money on something else?! Luckily, Ava was very adamant, for many, many months that she wanted an Ariel themed birthday, so I tried real hard to make it work with the pool





To say she was excited would be an understatement!



Mom put the idea in Ava’s head to have her daddy hang fish over the pool so it would seem like we were really under the sea. Well after about 2 hours of trying to rig something up that would go the length of the pool (and beyond to a place to anchor it)and not sag Adam gave up and just hung fish above the patio- which was just a good to Ava (thank goodness- although he wished he had known that 2 hours before…)



Thanks to my mom and aunt for bringing chips an dip, a cheese ball, and a platter of fruit! I had a cooler full of drinks, but I also made the ‘tiffany punch’ which was equal parts lemonade and berry blast Hawaiian punch. It was really good, I didn’t have much left of the 2 gallons I made!!



The kids seemed to gravitate to this table more often than the other- ha!



The hit of the party was definitely this huge swan float. All of the kids had a blast with it.



Pictures don’t even do it justice the size of this float- so you will either have to come see for yourself or just trust me. They beat the poor swan to death jump on it, jumping off of it, flipping it over, they had such a good time and somehow the swan seemed to survive all of it!



After a little swimming it was time for cake and presents!



She usually gets so embarrassed to be the center of attention, and she wanted all her buddies to be around her and help her blow out her candle. haha!











When it was present time, Trevor and Bella pulled up a seat and sat down while Ava opened her presents- and they sat there the entire time! So sweet!









A game and a big bag of M&M’s?! They know the way to this girls heart!









See what I mean? They were so sweet!









My parents bought a violin for Ava for her birthday. This was a complete surprise to her, she had been playing my violin which was way to large for her, but there was definitely interest, and we aren’t one to pass up on interest in a musical instrument.



At first she thought it was just a case- its funny because she told everyone that it was a case because she plays violin- haha!



It’s so cute and we have her practice 10 minutes a day- which is about max for her attention span and patience (as well as mine!), but she’s doing great!





She had a very specific list of things she wanted- and even had me take pictures of things she saw in the store that she wanted. I’m not sure what we ever did before camera phones!











A doctor’s outfit from her Aunt, Nurse Stacey.



Another option for kids if you don’t have a pool or a huge swan float? Box fillers! I’ve never seen a group of kids get so excited about something!





Baylie came a little later and we all hung out while the guys watched the football games! The kids were all tired from a full day and Ava said it was the best. day. ever!

Each birthday is bittersweet but we are so thankful God gave us the opportunity to be a part of our little girl’s story!

Ps. Thanks to Jenny for being the photographer and my sister for videoing!