my seven year-old?!

When did I become old enough for a SEVEN year-old?!
Well, the answer to that is: This past Saturday.

Yes, my first born has turned 7.

Here she was. Born July 9th 2004
Weighing (my biggest child) 8lbs. 13oz.
Yea, she was a big baby.

And here she is now.

Kela wanted a big party with all her friends and cousins this year.
And...considering just her cousins alone equals around 14 kids (at least the ones that live in Hawaii...) I was a bit hesitant to go along.
PLUS, did I mention that ALL her cousins from Mitch's side are here on island right now as well?
They are.
All 5 of them.
So, with family alone, the number of cousins equals 19!!
And that's not including the adults!
Was it crazy of me to say yes to this ridiculous scheme?
YES.

Anyway, for her party she wanted to swim at the pool.
Lucky for us, no one else was there except for our party!
Of course, that could be attributed to the fact that it was RAINING!
But, despite the intermittent showers, there were some bouts of sunshine so the kids had fun.

The Sakuma boys found this little stray kitten wandering around the pool.
They decided she was more interesting than swimming.

But the girls, well, they swam.

After swimming, we headed to our house for some dinner.
On the menu? Sushi, of course!
Mitch tried to convince me to get pizza instead, but I said NO.
If we're hosting 45 people in our tiny house, then I'm going to at least make the FOOD worth the lack of space!

Yes, you read that right.
At most, there were 45 people in our tiny little 1200 sq. foot house.
29 of them were kids.
Remember what I said about being crazy?
You probably agree with me now, eh?

I got a bit nervous at the beginning...worried that some people wouldn't care for sushi, but since I also ordered a pan of fried chicken...I think there was something yummy for everyone.
At least, I enjoyed the food. Ha ha ha...
No but seriously, since there were hardly any left overs, I do believe everyone enjoyed the food.

I mean....come on!
It's SUSHI!

And the cake.
Kela requested a cake from Safeway...
Rather than the homemade cupcakes I usually do for birthdays.

Sheesh, I don't know who should be more insulted! Me, or Betty Crocker!

Though in the end, I was glad to have one less thing to prepare before the party.

But in the end, the cake was a hit.
As portrayed by my niece, Reina.

How did we manage to fit 45 people into our tiny house?
Well, technically, we didn't.
Some spilled out onto our back lanai.
After dinner and cake, many of the kids dispersed upstairs into the girls bedroom and toy room.
While most of the little ones enjoyed the toys out on our lanai.
Like our toy kitchen/bbq set...

And our sand box...

While others pretended to sleep.
I know the feeling...I was pretty exhausted after all the festivities!

Kaden did GREAT!
He was vastly entertained by all the kids running this way and that...
Not to mention Grandma's watch.
He really seemed to like that...!

All in all, the party was a success, I think!
Sure, our house was full to bursting.
29 kids sure is a LOT of little bodies in one small space!
BUT, considering there weren't any injuries, fights or even much dropped food for that matter...I considered it a SUCCESS!

And Kela enjoyed the day, which is the most important thing, right? And also a good thing, since next year, I just may have to figure out a way to pare down the number of people.
Or choose another venue.

Or simply forget her birthday.

Just kidding.

For the tons of other pictures I took from the day...check em out HERE!!