happy birthday, aya!

My niece Aya turned 5!

On the same day as her new little baby brother was born (see previous post).

So, even with my sister Elika in the hospital with baby Knox...we went ahead and celebrated Aya's birthday anyway.
It was a family affair...at our house and complex's pool.
Nothing fancy, but with tons of cousins (and I mean, TONS), everyone had fun, I think.
Well, Aya had fun and that's all that matters, right?

So, here's a bunch of the cousins. But by no means, all of them.

The bigger kiddies at the deep end.

While Jolee hung out in the shade with my iPhone.
Hmm....why does this picture look familiar....?
See this post.

And my Mom's here!
Of course, she missed baby Knox's birth by one day, but we're all happy to have her here!!
And since she hung out with Kaden in the shade, I actually got to don my suit and jump in!

(Not that you'll get to see that, though!)

On your mark....get set...

GO!
(I do believe Ezra won this race...)

Kela and Rumi.
As always, inseparable.

Ah, and what's a pool party without a cannonball or two, right?

It was a HOT day...but with the cool breeze blowing through, some relaxing in the sun definitely felt good!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

So, after the pool, we all headed back to my house for the rest of the partay!

First step...the Hello Kitty piñata!

Which broke off after the second whack by Aya.
Turns out it was one of those "pull ribbons" piñatas...where instead of whacking it, you gently pull the ribbons one by one until one lucky kid pulls the right one that supposedly opens the whole thing up.
We then decided to reinforce with a more strategically placed strap so the kids could continue to whack it with a baseball bat.
Because, seriously...who wants to pull strings on a piñata?

No sissy games here!

I got pics of each child whacking it...but decided to just post the one of Jolee.
Because I'll have you know she probably didn't even put a dent in the cardboard.

In the end, I believe Aya broke it open.
And then it was a mad frenzy to see who could pocket the most candy.

And finally the cake.

Which I was supposed to make...but since I spent all morning running around to the hospital, to another birthday party for Kela's friend, then to the airport to pick up my Mom, then back to the hospital, and then finally back to the birthday party to pick up Kela...I just couldn't find the time.
So, I bought some cupcakes from the store instead.

Sue me.

The kids enjoyed it!

But most importantly, the Birthday Girl enjoyed it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AYA!!