Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Time is flying by! And Maya turns 5 ....

I feel as if someone hit Fast Forward on my life. I signed on to not only find that my last post was for Maria's birthday in March, but that I still have a snow picture as my header photo! Geez, where does the time go?!?! So we skipped right over blogging about Maya's Gotcha Day on May 1, but it was special whether I write about it or not. I am amazed daily that I was lucky enough to become a mother to these two precious girls..... and now on to Maya's 5th birthday!

Maya turned 5 on Monday July 26th, but we had her birthday party on Sunday the 25th at the place where she takes her gymnastic class. She absolutely loved it, as this first picture will attest to. I adore that smile, and am glad that my baby was so happy!


My only complaint about the gym was the unbearable heat! The gym had been closed the week before the party, and temperatures in our town were in the high 90's all week long. You would think SOMEONE would have thought "hm, the gym might be a little hot since no one has been in there this week and the a/c has been turned off." Nope. Not one person. So the college students who are working the party show up around 2:30 for the party that starts at 3:00, and they start trying to figure out how to turn on the darned a/c. The thermostat reads 96 degrees INSIDE THE BUILDING. My blood boils just thinking about it. So we manage to get the a/c on, and it does bring the inside temp down to a sweltering 86 degrees before we leave, but these kids are running and jumping all over the place and I'm constantly worried one of them will pass out. I felt like I was melting and all I had to do was sit and watch! One child did end up going home early as he did not feel well, and we are all sure he just got overheated.


But the good part is, no one was seriously hurt, and these kids had a grand time in spite of the heat! Maria was absolutely tickled that she got to go to gymnastics with Maya, as she is not old enough to take the class there and usually has to watch on the sidelines while Maya goes in the class. We had 15 kids there, including my M&M (as I have taken to abbreviating Maya and Maria, as I also love M&Ms so it's quite fitting, you see), so it was a great turnout to be a summer weekend just a couple of weeks before school starts again.


After running and jumping, we of course had ice cream and cake. And lots of juice and water for the overheated crowd. Speaking of juice, many kudos go to Auntie Lisa for running to the closest grocery store for more ice, juice for the kids and bottled water for the adults. We had brought a cooler of juice boxes and sodas, but felt we would need LOTS more due to the excessive heat. And then came the presents, of course. Maya had such a wonderful day. And to top it off, her BFF Elysia, whom she has not seen since school ended in May, came back to our house with us and she and Maya swam and played for several more hours.









Here's my little monkey!


















Maya and her BFF Elysia.

















As for the gym, E called them today and requested a refund on the money we paid for the party. While everyone did have a good time, the heat was seriously unbearable, and unsafe, and they did agree to refund the money. I would still recommend them for parties, and Maria is now saying she wants to have her party there, but I will definitely follow up beforehand to make sure everything will be in order before we go next time! And our instructors, Jamie and Dillon, were awesome with the kids!

Oh my word ... I almost forgot to mention the Sleeping Beauty decorations!! Maya had been saying for months that she wanted a Sleeping Beauty party and cake. I do make massive cakes for my girls' birthdays, so I had it all planned. I found a small water globe at the Disney outlet near the beach when we went for Mother's Day (oh, another forgotten blog .. went to the beach for Mother's Day with my girls and stayed with friends Gwen, Don and their daughter Holly. Holly has decided that, as she is an only child, that Maya and Maria will be her little sisters. We had a GREAT time!) And then I decided to get a small Sleeping Beauty doll to use on the bottom tier of the cake and have her sleeping on a bed. Too cute. But, have you ever seen just Sleeping Beauty on any party supplies? You can find all the Disney princesses together, or you can find just Cinderella, or just Ariel, and sometimes just Snow White. But you never see Belle or Aurora all by themselves. What to do ... what to do ... I could get all the princesses, as the cake will be just Sleeping Beauty, but Maya kept saying Sleeping Beauty, not the princesses in general. So, the Google Queen that I am, got online and searched and searched. Found 2 stores in England that had just Sleeping Beauty tablecloths, napkins and all the usual accessories. I practically squealed with delight when I emailed a friend in England and she agreed to let me order the items and have them sent to her house, and she would then mail them to me. Good thing I started searching early for these things, or I never would have gotten them in time! But we had it all .... a Sleeping Beauty tablecloth, napkins, plates and banner. It was wonderful! And my princess had the party she wanted, which made this mama happy.