Celebrating Early!

Karianna's birthday is not until September 16th of course, but we had a quadruple birthday party today for her, and cousins Makayla, Shanna, and Brenna.  It is rare that Karianna gets to do a cousin party with Makayla, who is her best friend, cousin or not.  We couldn't get all the family out for it, but given that today is Labor Day, we figured that would be the case, and that was okay....given how difficult pregnancy is for me now, and how stressful it can be on the Hammerquists to travel, we wanted it to be as laid back as possible.

We had planned to go to a park since the days have been overcast, windy, and on the brink of rainy.  Of course, as it got to be half an hour until party time, I realized it was just too hot to have a party at the park.  We nixed that idea and changed up plans. Everyone came over to our house instead and those who could brought swimming suits to swim.  Our backyard looks gross.  It's just a fact. The pool deck really needs to be redone...that's out of our control. But the pool was in good shape, and the cousins loved it.  Thankfully the house itself was fairly clean since I have been in a nesting mode in terms of cleaning, so that wasn't too stressful for me.

Overall, it was fun celebrating the girls, especially Karianna.  It is so funny to see her reactions to gifts!  She gets so kooky and crazy, it's awesome-its genuine, and that's what makes it awesome.  I didn't give her all the gifts I have for her-we'll save those for her "real" birthday party on the 16th, but we did give her an earring and necklace set, and her new bedspread/pillowcase/pillow set.  She was ecstatic about everything and it was so wonderful to see her so happy.

We had ice cream sandwich/bar treats for the kids, which went over really well, and everyone jumped in the pool to clean cool off.  It was a fun evening, and the cousins had a blast together.  Happy early Birthday Karianna!