When did this happen? My baby turned 5. That's a whole hand.
And I can't even think about her being halfway to ten. I just want to bottle her up and keep her this sweet forever.
She had been asking for a tumbling party for a long time, and it all came together as she qualified for nationals and we went to Knoxville! It seemed like the perfect theme for our girl this year.
We had the party at her gym, MAT Tumbling and Trampoline, a few days before her birthday. We have been so impressed with this place and Kerigan loves it so much. She couldn't wait to share the day with her friends. We decorated the tables with balloons and her 2 trophies from State and Nationals.
Decorating was fun and simple! We did dollar tree water bottles- they had the party colors so it worked perfect! Ribbon wands and trophies from Oriental Trading. I just spray painted the trophies pink.
Kerigan wanted zebra print to match her leotard so I accented with that. Each tumbler got a bag with a sparkly headband, jump rope, and coupon for a free class at MAT.
As usual, the amazing cake made by my nephew's wife, Jenny. Kerigan loved it!
I always do cupcakes for the friends and we save the cake for the family party. Jenny's gorgeous work on the frosting topped with mini star sugar cookies couldn't have been more perfect.
Kerigan was so happy almost all her best friends could make it. A lot of these girls were in her preschool class the past 2 years and several she has known since the day we moved here (for as long as she can remember). This is a very special group of friends and cousins.
The coaches had the girls warm up first.
She was having a blast!
After they demonstrated each station, they let the kids go wherever they wanted and then had a person at each station to supervise. It worked perfectly!
This trampoline was a huge hit with the kids!
And the foam pit was another favorite.
Happy 5 year old!
This guy could jump all the way across the foam squares to the very back!
My favorite picture of the day. Hands down.
Sweet Olivia from preschool gave Kerigan notecards for her birthday so she could write to her when we move. :( So sweet!
More precious friends, Annika, Gianna and Sophie
Cousin Lucy!
Sweet friends Lily, Hope and Lucy
The big kids #cousins
Andrew and cousin Evelyn on the balance beam!
She had such a fun day at one of her favorite places with her favorite people!
Group picture in the foam pit!
Getting ready to blow out her candles
Before
And after she blew them out- happy girl!
Yummy!
The crew!
Big brother was so sweet. He woke up and said "I am going to be nice to Kerigan today!" Ha ha.
I made a collage of her friends when she opened gifts with them. I always have the kids get the gift they brought and sit down a little distance away, or in a circle, depending on location. In this case, we had Kerigan's tumbling mat so I had them sit around the mat. Then I had them one at a time take their gift and sit on the mat next to Kerigan. This works so well, and it avoids the child who brought the gift from not being able to see her open it. And it allows Kerigan to be able to thank them right away. It also cuts back on someone having to take presents to her when she's done with one, the next person just comes right up! We saved family presents for later at our house.
As grown ups were coming to pick up, the big girls showed the kids their passes they performed at Nationals. The kids were just in awe of them! They were awesome!
With Grandpa and Grandma Huegel
And Ga Ga and Papa
Uncle Jay and Aunt Rachel- Aunt Rachel did her pretty braid (which was pretty much done by this point in the day! Ha)
After the party I always try to time it so family can come back over to our house for dinner. Depending on the weather, we try to grill and this evening turned out to be beautiful so we had hamburgers!
Kerigan and Evelyn had a fashion show so I think she changed clothes about 20 times.
Our sweet neighbor, Heidi, came over for the family party. Kerigan adores her.
Another birthday song. Because you can never hear that song enough on your birthday!
I look at this picture and think about what her wish was... as 5 years ago, she was my wish. And she came true.
She opened more presents from family and then we brought out the big one!
A Barbie dreamhouse and a bin FULL of Barbie stuff that was Evelyn's when she was little. I bought it all from Rachel a couple years ago when she was going to get rid of it, and had been saving it for the perfect age.
Turns out age 5 was the perfect time. And it was so special to have Evelyn be there when she opened it- and so she could help her figure everything out! Evelyn and Jayden spent the night and the kids played and played the next morning.
Happy #5 baby girl! I can't wait to see what this year has in store for you!
