Carly's 8th Birthday Swim Party

So our baby girl turned 8 on Monday August 3rd. It was a day filled to the brim with FUN in the SUN!!! Carly wanted to have a swim party with a few friends and cousins. So the planning began. It was a WET and WILD afternoon for sure! :)

Carly begged and pleaded with me to let her open JUST ONE present before the birthday party. I...the softy...let her do just that. She loves Littlest Pet Shop and collects all these cute little pets and this is the latest addition. Come on you have to agree this little giraffe is too cute :)

I love to make fun and creative Birthday cakes for birthdays. Summer Birthday Cakes are always fun to make. This year I attempted to make SUNGLASSES cake. Lucky for Carly she got 2 cuz the recipe calls for it to bake in 2 round cake pans and so she got two pairs of sunglasses cakes. Plus I liked the idea of a practice cake too :) it is all still edible if I really messed up. my favorite part of the cake is the fun "diamond" bling in the corners! a last minute detail that I think makes it completely cute!

Carly was sooo happy I made her 2 cakes! She thought her friends would be so excited to see what I made this year! It was funny, some of the party guests remembered Carly's cake last year and couldn't wait to see what I made this year. Talk about PRESSURE :)

We made it to the pool. Look familiar??? It's the Gordon Resort! The perfect place for a swim party! Carly and her pals!

*Courtney, Ethne, Marley, Carly, Claire, Tristan, Kaitlyn & Ashlyn...oh and Blake too :)

The Party Decor Set Up... We had to do a Hawaiian Theme again :) it only fits for a hot summer day. Go TROPICAL all the way :)

The best part of the decor, is that I own all of it. I did borrow a couple Hawaiian shirts from my folks. I have been collecting bits of decor here and there. It comes in handy every year and it have decorated ward parties, youth dances, girls camp and been borrowed here and there~ Hooray for Hawaiian Decor! It was fun setting up this party. I was gonna simple it down this year and not really decorate at all but then I remembered who I was and couldn't let myself down! It's all or nothing with this gal :) I ended up staying up til midnight & it was worth it. I wanted it to be extra special for my birthday girl. You only turn 8 once :)

The gift table and Party Favors. What a cute idea hu? I stole it :) and the "pineapple" or "palm tree" drink bottles are filled with yummy candy! (i thought they were pineapples but on girl said it was a palm tree, hu! i think she might be right LOL!) What else would a little girl want?

The girlies getting ready to show me their best tricks, jumps and twirls! Bring it on Gals :)

SWEET!!!

AWESOME HEIGHT KAITLYN!!!

WOW!!!

OH YEAH!!! SPLASH!

Blakey Boy loved the pool too. He tried out these pool noodles. He is getting braver every swim.

Warming up and keeping cool!

PIZZA TIME!!! Swimming works up quite the appetite :)

Make a Wish Time! Everyone is so excited to taste this cake! It was tasty :)

Carly is THRILLED to open PRESENTS!!!!

This one is from Claire & Ethne. They knew it would be her favorite! They might be right :) It's a TAYLOR SWIFT barbie that sings!!! wow! cool I know! Carly LOVES Taylor Swift. She plays her music as loud as it can get and she knows every word. I sense loud music issues in our future. GULP!!! ;)

Well, it looks like she LOVED ALL her presents! She was spoiled with a new purse filled with girls favorite stuff, make up, candy, nail polish. She got a rescue pet, littlest pet shop pets, more, more and more candy. THANKS FRIENDS!!!

Presents from Mom & Dad. Her own sweet Sunglasses and a cute little mermaid barbie.

It was cute to see all the friend oooh and aaah as fun presents were opened like this Little Pony playset.

It wouldn't be a birthday without a new addition to the Webkinz collection. This cute pup she named Lily to remind her of Granny & Pappy's Lily.

The Last one.... I love this picture. Look at all the girls leaning in and their in awe faces. GIRLS ARE SO MUCH FUN! What could this present be?

Mermaid Falls!!! SWEET! what she always wanted ;) It is a fun toy to play with in the bath for her mermaid barbies to have fun on. WOW!!!! What a fantastic Birthday Party for our Carly girl! We love you sweet girl! Happy 8th Birthday!!! A couple more birthday surprises to come too. She got to have a fun cousin sleepover and swim some more. Grandma Gordon was going to take Carly out for a date to get her first set of scriptures with her name inscribed & ice cream. I made her a special scripture tote too! (what a surprise!) Carly will be baptised this Saturday and she is so excited.

Stay posted for more It is Great to be 8 posts :)