Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Back to Life, Back to Reality...Safari Birthday Party

We've been back in the swing of reality for a week now.  But it's been something of a complete and total whirlwind of a ride.  Our drive home was exceptionally fun.  The highlight of the trip was our 2 hour hike through a cavern.  Clearly Isla's cut out to be a distance runner as she even hiked 90% of it by herself (trashing her new shoes in the mean time!).  The cavern was wonderfully cool, refreshing, and delightful.  And then, we were welcomed back to the south in true, Texas-in-July fashion.

 Yes, while we were gone, Summer Began.  There hasn't been a day under 100 here in over a month.
We made it home just in time to enjoy a wonderful weekend with The Best Brother in the Whole Wide World and The Awesomeist Sister in Law Ever.

The children were able to enjoy an entire day with their aunt and uncle while their Mama got ready for someone's big day (part 2).  Because, within less then 48 hours of my return, we were expecting a houseful of our amazing friends as party guests, so it was Time To Fly!

Isla's favorite place is the zoo and she can already name a lot of animals, so it was only natural that I took her guests on a safari for her party!  Her friends enjoyed a visit from 12 zoo animals, ranging from snakes and frogs to a Desert Fox and an adorable hedgehog.  Major props to Zoology for a fantastic Animal show, enjoyed by kids from age 3-60. 
 Her favorite animal:  Elephant.  Her Favorite color:  purple.  So of course Mama had to make her a purple gluten-free elephant cake!
Kudos to Isla's Meme for creating the adorable cupcake toppers, by hand.  My favorite is still the hippo!


At the end of the day, driving 1000+ miles, 6 states, hiking a cavern, hosting house guests, and throwing a big old Texas Birthday Fiesta within 5 days...was a little tiring!  But more than anything I love my family, kids, and friends so it was a lot fun!