Beach Bash

ready to see details of Canaan's beach bash??

board shorts banner:

my older bro designed this cool board shorts image for me to use on the water bottle labels:

what's a beach bash without water balloons? 150, to be exact...
cupcakes:
honestly, these sharks were the hardest cupcakes i've ever attempted. my plan was to make 20 of them, but after being resorted to tears cause the rest of them were falling apart, i ended up with 3. mark my words...i will NEVER attempt them again!! in a last minute game time decision, we created shark fins out of frosted ginger snaps, and life preservers with a shark bite taken out.

i found this idea for these flip flop cookies here:

Fish Food was made up of whale shaped cheese crackers, pretzel sticks, and marshmallows:
the kiddos jumped right into the ocean upon arrival, and we made sure to have lots of watchful adult eyes on hand to keep guard over all our little minnows:
canaan had a blast with all his friends from school, church, and his baseball team all in one place:



we gathered the fishes out of the water to play a few games.

first on the list:

Sharks and Minnows:

Bella wasn't gonna let those boys get by her!
next up:

A Water Balloon Toss:


then all the kids used the leftover water balloons to get the B-day Boy!

and my favorite activity of the day:

The Shark Tooth Hunt

we set up flags along the beach, and drew a circle around each flag. within each circle, there were at least 2 shark's teeth for the kids to find:
can you spot the shark's tooth???

they got to take home their teeth in a special bag:
showing off their finds:
we ended our games and enjoyed a quick snack:
before moving onto cupcakes and Happy Birthday!

the birthday boy was tuckered out after his big week of turning 7, but this Beach Bash was the perfect way to end the celebrations!

(to print all the printables used in this party, see here!!)

i'm coming back to fill you in on some happenings around here (and beyond) in the next few weeks.

ps: totally switching gears...but i thought i'd leave you with a thought for today....i sat up late last night watching all the news coverage on Osama bin Laden's death. i have to admit...i went to bed with mixed emotions. i didn't quite know whether to feel sad, happy, relieved, angry.....

but i woke up this morning with this thought:

The true reality is that i am no different that Osama bin Laden. we are both big fat sinners in need of a big time Rescuer. we live in a harsh, broken, fallen world. our hearts are full of sin. we all desperately need a Redeemer. and that man's death shines light on the reality of my own need for Jesus. because ultimately, me and bin Laden have the same root sin...we both want to be our own God, build our own little kingdoms that revolve around us. our choices and the consequences might look different on the outside, but our hearts are the same. thank God that He's abundantly given me, once again, a reminder of my desperate need.