YaYa's 7th Birthday Party - Sun Oct 26th

For the longest time YaYa wanted a kitten themed birthday party. Then, maybe a month or two ago she decided she wanted a party at the local roller skating rink. It seemed like a rash decision, but sure enough she stuck by it and in the end it was certainly the right call - she had a blast!

She wanted to choose the neon themed room, but Lisa talked her out of it, preserving that more 'grown-up' room for later parties. Instead, YaYa picked the 'Dream Den', a princess themed area.









Most of the party, obviously, was spent on the skating floor, but as the party girl YaYa did get to spend some time in the 'cash machine'.









Unfortunately, we'd trained her to stuff the cash in her shirt and pockets, only to find out that was not allowed!

The party was mainly family and the friends of family - my oldest three, my niece S, Chris' kids, the neighbor, and two kids from her school. As space was limited, we could not invite more of her class to attend. The Lump was at a babysitter - the very first time a child of mine had been watched by someone other than family (or Chris)since early 2002, when we had YaYa in a daycare for all of half an hour at the Mall of America.

We'd been unsure of whether or not Smiley should go, as he couldn't skate, but in the end we gave the go ahead. We were expecting him to be a drag, truthfully, asking for our help and consuming our time on the floor, much as the girls did as they learned. Not so. While he happily skated with us, much of the time he set out on his own, albeit at a snails pace. Your courage and determination are duly noted little man, duly noted!







On to the skating pics!





















Soon enough it was time for pizza and presents.





Amongt the gifts were a Suite Life bed set, a Jonas Brothers CD that is in solid rotation here, and a bunch of Hannah Montana items, ranging from a sheet set to folders.

[Her best friend continuously critiqued the gifts as they were opened, telling people YaYa 'doesn't like Hannah Montana'. Thankfully YaYa's been trained well and was exhuberant and thankful as she opened each of them.]





Did I skate? You betcha. I looked scrubby as heck, but I did my damage on the floor.









We all got excited when the DJ played two New Kids songs - Single and Summertime! YaYa raced to the floor and the rest of us were right behind her. "When's the last time you skated to the New Kids?" I asked Lisa. "1989," she answered.





Of note: my mother in law tried on skates briefly but didn't hit the floor; my parents were unable to attend (my Dad worked, my Mom was ill), and it snowed on the way home!(although it melted on the windshield).

A great party. Again, happy birthday YaYa!