Little Mermaid Birthday Party

What a DAY. It started off so beautiful, just overcast. And the kids did get to get into the water a bit. THEN it POURED. We stayed under the pavilion and did all the games there. The girls had so much fun, Diva was so excited to see her friends. Here is a picture of her with the giant armless mermaid cake, that I started decorating 30 minutes before I had to leave to get the party set up, that is why I never attached her Twinkie arms. Diva kept telling me how beautiful she- the cake was, so that's all that matters in the end. Piglet squealed when she first saw the cake. I had to tape two half sheet cake boards together to fit the thing on something portable. (By the way it's a whole wheat carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, although there is so much food coloring on there I might as well have made it a not so healthy cake LOL.)
I didn't put up any of the fish or jelly fish decorations that Diva and I made, they were so cute too but it was so very windy, I didn't even put up streamers. No graham cracker crumb sand on the table with sea shells, no Ariel confetti AND I forgot the batteries for the bubble machine. Oh well. I did put the goldfish crackers in the fishbowl though.

Here is a picture of Diva pulling a string from the Pinata, we didn't get one that the kids had to hit. The pull string seemed to go over well with them anyway. Excuse the blurred out face of the little girl, I didn't get any parents permission to post pictures of their child on the Internet, and I figured it would peeve me if someone posted without asking me first.

A couple of other games we had for the kids were pass the package and pin the tiara on Ariel, which is what Diva is doing in the picture. That's not a good picture of me but there I am, as I was looking through pictures tonight I couldn't believe how BIG I have gotten. Whew.

The girls were excited to open presents. They loved everything they got. When we got home I had them eat dinner and then let them take two each out of the packages to play with until tomorrow. What a blessing though, they had so much fun.

Piglet LOVES this cow, she's sleeping with it as I type.

Did you notice the weather in the above picture? This is what it looked like soon after.

One last thing, the jello fish "bowls" they have Swedish fish swimming in there. Some had mermaids and some had Parasols.

Chopping, stirring, browning, prepping, mixing...

... and making room in refrigerator and freezer. OH also gluing things, wrapping things, making lists to keep track of what needs to be packed, making lists to keep track of those lists. That my friends is what I have been doing since yesterday. Getting ready for this party. It's not like I am even cooking for that many people (35), but I just want to pace myself LOL. The cake is made, and the mermaid is cut out... I just need to decorate it. I planned on doing that yesterday but once i cut the mermaid out I realized that there is no way I could fit it back into the fridge OR freezer assembled, it's just too big, I couldn't leave it out because it's a cream cheese based frosting. So that will be a last minute thing.
I did make the little tortilla wraps yesterday so they could sit and the flavors could get all yummy and mixed together. I also made the little fishbowls with jello. So cute, little bowls of blue jello with fish swimming in them. Some have mermaids hanging out on the sides and others have paper parasols- Diva requested those.
Today I need to get the veggie trays done, taco bar goodies prepped, beans made- if I decide to do them, and just set everything out on trays to transport. I did brown NINE pounds of taco meat and seasoned it this morning. I placed it in the crock pot on low to finish cooking and develop flavor.
I can't help but think I am missing something? Prizes for the games have been wrapped, most games are put together except one. goldfish and pretzels are put next to the CLEAN fishbowls and ready to be set out, decorations are packed up with tape. Pinata is packed up with a rope, and a playsilk for the blindfold. I packed a parachute and will get some coloring sheets ready for in case it rains. Extension cord... that needs to be packed. I should test out toe bubble machine but if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. Ugh, Ice is being made and we will purchase some... what am I forgetting??? Sunscreen and bug repellent, we do need that, maybe extra towels, in case someone forgets. OY... anyway hopefully I can post pictures later.