Carolyn invited her closest 30 friends to an afternoon at "Jump Around Utah" -- an indoor bounce house. Seriously, she has thirty friends and we had to even cut out a few to keep our numbers to 30.
Lately, Carolyn is obsessed with elephants and the color pink, so I figured the best theme for the party would be "pink elephant." I found a cute t-shirt on etsy that became my inspiration. I then matched the invitations, cakes, party favors, and thank you cards with the same design. A few days before the party, Carolyn found the t-shirt that I had "hidden" in the guest room. She brought it out to me with really wide, excited eyes and said, "Mom, look what I found. It would be perfect for my birthday party. Can I wear it to the bounce house?"
Yes, I made the birthday cakes, but I admit, I had a bit of a cake disaster. I hate to bake and inevitably screw things up when I bake, but I was determined to give Carolyn an all-pink cake. Steve and Carolyn made me a delicious pink cake for my birthday, so I figured we could make it again for her birthday party. Afterall, it was just a box cake mix with fresh strawberries and jello added to it. How could I mess that up? Steve said he would bake the cake, but for whatever reason, it ended up on my to-do list for Saturday. When I pulled the cake out of the oven, it was so crumbly and broke into about 25 pieces when we tried to get it out of the pan. It tasted delicious, but was not going to work. I probably - no, I know - I said a few bad words at that moment. But thankfully, I had 15 minutes to get to Costco before they closed. I ran straight back to the bakery section with Carolyn in tow, barefoot, mopsy-haired, and dressed in a formal princess gown. They had one sheetcake left, but it had green flowers all over it. No problem. I can scrape those off, re-ice it, and decorate it with a pink elephant. The cashier told Carolyn how much he liked her dress, and she proudly said, "My grandma made it. I am a queen." She then told the cashier, "My mommy made me a pink cake at home, but there was a screw in it, so we have to buy this one." (I think she meant to say 'my mommy screwed it up'). OK. Crisis averted. We were back on the road by 6:05, ready to transform the green flowered cake into a pink elephant. It was not perfect, but she loved it. She cried when everyone sang happy birthday to her, but blew out her candles nicely. She insisted on eating a piece that had the elephant trunk.
Here are some pictures of the jumpers. With all of the movement, I wish I had a better camera with a faster shutter, but as you can see, despite how blurry the photos are, both kids and adults loved the place.
This last picture is of Carolyn and her best friend at school, Nora. It is uncanny how much they look alike, huh?
By the end of the party, she was so tired. She grabbed her elephant and curled up on the floor. I am pretty sure her eyes fluttered a few times as all of her friends said goodbye to her.
Oh, and when we got to the car, see the video below.
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