Under the Sea, take 2

The twins had their first friend party this year.  They were so excited!  Though, you'll notice from the picture below that the girls FAR outnumber the boys.  There are so few boys in our new ward Keaton's age, and none of which he plays with.  So we invited the little boy down the street to be his guest.  He's actually Brighton's age, but they both play with him.  He and Brighton went off and did their own thing though, and Keaton was left with just the girls to play with.  Luckily, he didn't notice or seem to care.  Sorry Buddy!  Better luck next year.

 We kept with the same Under the Sea theme.  I saved back some cupcakes from the family party, which was great not to have to do more in my heavy state.

 Here's our crew.  We had a fishing pond with bubbles and mermaids for the girls, water guns for the boys.

 We played feed the shark with bean bags.

 Sometimes we fed it something a little more substantial.

 Wrigley

 Piper

 I think she's just humoring me.

 My 2 lovely helpers, Chloe and Savannah got into a little too much.

 We played freeze dance and pass the dolphin.  These two games kept them occupied for a lot longer than I thought possible for 4 year olds.

 We had cupcakes outside.

 And opened more gifts.

 Waverly was thrilled with her mini Rapunzel ("now Big Rapunzel has a little sister"), and Keaton was thrilled with his Thomas the train engine that really moved.  Thanks Marcus and Jamie!

They had a great day.  Lots of fun, but it's good it's only once a year.  They are already planning next year's event. 

Under the Sea, we're no longer 3!

 Ok, so, typical with my parties, I have to get photos of every detail, plus my twins were so cute this year, there's a million photos of them too.  So, be fore-warned, this is a LONG post.  You may want to get a snack and some popcorn.

The twins are finally 4!!  Hooray!! We made it through the 2's and 3's!!!  No one warned me how hard 2 and 3 were, so I have been so excited to make age 4.  We tried to find a theme that would suit them both; Waverly wanted either a Pinkalicious or Tinkerbelle party; Keaton wanted Cars.  So I did what excited me, and we did Under the Sea.  I know, poor kids.  Next year.  We had submarine sandwiches,

BBQ'd octodogs,

 I made flavored ice cubes from drink mixes that we added to water.  We had fishes and sea stars.

 7 leagues under the sea salad,

 spinach dip

 Shrimp,

 tuna dip,

 and following a tip on Pinterest, I made this Twinkie "sushi", which was too time-consuming, plus the Swedish fish were too big and looked funny.  Oh well, they tasted great.

 cucakes, of course

 I liked the shark fins in them.

 These guys are the best of buddies. 

 See the fishbowl in the center?  I went to Walmart the night before and bought 6 goldfish (well, they were supposed to be "gold"fish, but were actually brown, and 2 died before the party even started.  Dumb fish!)

 They were all smiles this year, and there were no tears when we sang to them, unlike last year.  Maybe we're getting better?

 I'd love to know what he's saying to her.

 Because the expression on her face was hilarious.

 I just adore these 2, and I LOVE love love having twins.  They are best buds, playmates, got-your-backers, and friends.  I hope they always have a close bond with one another.

 I LOVE Keaton's expressions in these 2 photos.

 Waiting for presents...

 Aunt Julie gave them an outfit each, plus a Costco-sized bag of Cheetoes and fruit snacks to share.  The Cheetoes didn't last a week.

 More Cheetoes from Grandma!

 She's so well trained!

 So is he

 Grandma gave them each an outfit, flip flops, and a toy from the Disney store, the mecca of all stores for my kids.  Waverly is in love with Rapunzel right now, so she was SO ecstatic to get a Rapunzel shirt AND flip flops!

 Keaton was less ecstatic with his Toy Story shoes.  See the gender difference?

 Not a typical toddler, this girl LOVES clothes and was just as excited with them as anything else.

 OK, maybe the Rapunzel barbie did score a little higher on the squeal chart.

Sparkly dress from Julie.  This has become her favorite outfit.

Happy birthday Twins!