Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Hawaiian Luau for a Daughter's Birthday


Hello, Dear Friends, I hope you are 
enjoying this unofficial last week of summer 'vacation'.
Some of you are preparing children or grandchildren
for going back to school or college right now,
or perhaps you are an educator yourself!
If you are - here is a big Thank You
for all that you do! 

Three of my children were born around 
the start of school, so birthdays are also 
a special part of this time of year for us. 


Last weekend we celebrated my eldest daughter,
Heather's birthday at her sister Jennie's 
charming 1910 cottage. 

Heather and Jennie had planned a trip to Hawaii
together this past spring, 
but the happy news of Heather's impending
motherhood kept Heather grounded. 

Since she couldn't go, Jennie brought
Hawaii to her! 


Let's sneak out back through the French doors
before the guests arrive and see the party preparations.......

You can see Ramblin' Man helping to set out
tables and chairs in his silk Hawaiian shirt
straight from Hawaii. Part of his territory
at work included Hawaii for a few years,
and he would bring back souvenirs!

He brought me with him a couple of times, too! 


It was a very hot day in the 90's - perfect 
weather for a Luau! 

Tiki torches are ready :)
Hawaiian wraps are draped for chills
later in the evening. 


She has a cozy back yard, 
surrounded by tall fencing
and bordered by a roomy garage.

The back yard has to be secure for her two
mini-dachshunds, Weenie Baby and Peanut,
who are accomplished escape artists:)

Here she gives Weenie Baby a kiss.


You can never be too loved !
xx


She just had this whole corner of fencing replaced
by the best carpenters in the whole wide world -
Ramblin' Man (Dad) and Brother in Law, Eric (Heather's).

Didn't they do a great job?
They even installed a gate :)

She had come home recently on a stormy day to find
the old fence blown completely over!
xx
Eric set up the borrowed canopy and the planters
- complete with a water mister to cool off with!

It was such a hot day........

It was great for the guys who didn't care about hairstyles!




We decorated this great 'beachy' trellis-
gifted from a friend who was moving :) 

Paper fish and seahorses, 
and sea-shell lei's. 


 A Sea-shell garland and a vintage postcard.


Grass skirts and tropical pillows sewn from
colorful hankies. 


Lei's hanging from the back of chairs for guests to wear. 



Under the lovely shade of two big trees. 



A pink flamingo pinata,
just because!




Food tents keep away unwanted guests. 


On the menu:

Pulled pork sliders
Garden Macaroni salad
Baked beans
Hawaiian Cole Slaw
and.....


Cupcakes for desert. 
 Aren't they fun?

It was so hot that we had to keep them refrigerated
until they were served so the frosting wouldn't melt!


We found this cute idea on Pinterest!

Teddy Grahams in Peach Ring 'inner tubes'
on blue tinted frosting with blue sugar sprinkles.
xx
The party was a collaborative effort with a donated tent
tables, and shared decorations, collected over time. 

We have had several family parties 
with most of  these decorations over the years, 
including two bridal showers.

Now they are passed along to Jennie,
as she has the perfect backyard
for a summer party. 


Lemonade, lemon water, and a delicious Hawaiian
Rum punch quench the thirst, along with bottles
of Old Fashioned Root Beer.


The sweet birthday girl arrives.....

She has a certain 'glow' these days :)

I can still remember the wonderful day she arrived,
39 years ago.

Now my Dear Daughter is going to be a Mom!



Of course, I am now already being called
'Gramma' by my sweet little grandson, Ethan.

Here, his Dad (my son, Gabe) coaxes him to walk
to his Uncle Dustin (my youngest son).
Yes, he is walking!
Where does the time go?


Holding his sea-shell lei.

xoxo


Of course, every self-respecting Hawaiian Luau
needs a pool!

The baby has fun with the hose......
Mom, Erica stays close by.

Oh, I just love those chubby baby legs!

<3



And later..........:)
The girls cool their piggies, too.


The guys played games and cooled off under the mister.

Here Ramblin' Man shows his 'form'.


Hoola Hoops were fun to play with!


Pretty tropical hairstyles.


Making a wish!


The happy start to a new year!


Watch out, Peanut loves cake........


 Weenie Baby enjoys the mister.


It was a lovely evening with a welcome, cooling breeze.

Tiki torches were filled with citronella oil
to keep away bugs.

Sit here and get 'misted', too.


The trellis, all-aglow <3



Kitschy cuteness xx


I found these in a local shop
and gifted them to her for her birthday this year.

Envisioning just such a night....


A summer evening gone too fast.


But with sweet birthday wishes
and a treasure chest of memories
 to store in my heart.

xoxo


Wishing all of you a lovely end to August
and a Happy Labor Day weekend!

xx

47 comments:

  1. What a great Hawaiian style summer family birthday party. This kind of days are the best of our lives we have to treasure. Enjoyed all the pretty sunny photos and wish you a lovely start of September.

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  2. Dear Karen,
    what a beautiful Birthday party you did for your lovely daughter! Thank you for sharing all those wonderful pictures! Happy belated Birthday to your daughter and best wishes for her!
    Wishing you a lovely and blessed week, filled with Love and joy, my sweet friend,
    Love and hugs, Claudia xo

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  3. What a lovely idea to have a Hawaiian party for your daughter and such a pretty cottage. Bet you can't wait to be a grandma again :) B X

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  4. What a brilliant post. Loved all the wonderful decorations, the menu and cakes looks tasty, the lovely snaps of all the happy family members with their Hawaiian themed clothing. Happy memories indeed! Thank you for sharing and have a wonderful September :)x

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  5. What a funny party! I love it.

    Marina from Spain

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  6. Your Hawaiin themed party looks as if it was a lot of fun. Love all the decorations. What a gorgeous cottage your daughter has. Your Ethan is so very cute. I too love his chubby legs. How exciting for you to have another grandchild to love.

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  7. What a wonderful birthday party, Karen! Especially the cute cupcakes made me smile.
    Thank you for the inspiring post, once more, and have a happy month of September! xx

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  8. Happy Birthday and what a Party. Love the new fence and the grass skirts.
    What a lot of trouble you went to but--OH IT'S WORTH THE MEMORIES. yVONNE

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  9. Hello, what a great theme for the birthday party. Happy birthday to your daughter. Your grandson is a cutie, love the pretty family photos. Happy Wednesday, enjoy your day!

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  10. What fun! A special year ahead indeed. Sending over my best wishes. x

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  11. What a fun party! happy birthday to your daughter - she is lovely!

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  12. My oh my, what a delightful and memorable birthday party! The decorations were lovely and your daughter was truly stunning on her 39th birthday. May I just say that you do not look old enough to have a 39-year-old :)

    Enjoy this last day of August, my friend. Hugs!

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  13. What a wonderful birthday celebration! Loved the picture of the two of you. You are lovely and so young looking. She is a lovely young woman too and I know you're all excited about the next little one coming soon.

    Enjoy the rest of your week ~ FlowerLady

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  14. Looks like a beautiful party for your lovely daughter...such a fun theme! Everything is so festive and pretty!
    The new fence is a beauty, too!

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  15. Dearest Karen,
    That was a very special 39th Birthday for sweet Heather.
    Great news that she is expecting and can't believe that Ethan is walking already...
    Happy for you that you too have been to Hawaii, a lovely island group to visit, especially if you love and appreciate nature and flowers.
    Sending you hugs,
    Mariette

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  16. What a great idea for a birthday party. I love that you all pitched in to make it so special. Congratulations on having another grandchild.....so special too!

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  17. Ahhhh yes, what sweet memories to store away, Karen! How sweet of Jennie to bring Hawaii to Birthday Girl, Heather. She does look absolutely glowing these days. Little Ethan is such a cutie and I know brings such enjoyment to your family. Thanks for sharing the special Luau with us.

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  18. Another lovely party! and you can never go wrong with Teddy Grahams on a cupcake! Happy birthday Heather!

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  19. A lovely summer party,
    Happy birthday to the birthday girl.
    Merle...................

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  20. Oh I loved everything about this post!! how sweet of her to do that party and bring Hawaii "home" I pinned those same cupcakes and they are just adorable. Enjoy your labor day weekend!

    blessings,
    Jill

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  21. What an awesome party, Karen! You have raised the bar for themed parties, especially a Luau! I love everything---so many original ideas and it made me smile to see those little ones dipping their toes in the pool. And the cupcakes...love them!

    The birthday girl is beautiful and blessed. Thanks for a great post!

    Jane

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  22. That must have been such a lovely evening. What a nice sisterly thing to do! I love a theme party and this one looks like it was a lot of fun.

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  23. So fun! This was a cute party idea. Loved the cupcakes....and Ethan's chubby baby legs. I loved that you had a mister by day and a fire by night.

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  24. Karen, what a fun birthday celebration for your daughter! So many wonderful ideas! I absolutely love your daughter's cottage home, and what a super back yard she has, so much room. The cupcakes are delightful, and I'm going to have to show Jess this Flamingo piñata, how funny. She loves flamingos! Heather looks radiant, and Jennie looks exotic with the Hawaiian flower in her hair. What a blessed day to be around all the family. This is a lovely picture of you also. Love that wrap. Thanks for sharing her special day with us.

    ~Sheri

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  25. What a stunning post, dearest Karen, filled with all a Mother's Love !

    First of all congratulations on your Heather's maternity, I'm so very glad for you all, and as for th Hawaiian party that Jennie has planned to celebrate her birthday sounds so joyful and so very perfect, I'm sure she and you all had so much fun !

    As you know I'm a teacher and I'm going to come back to school, so I'm enjoying my last days at home ... may your September be as joyful as never before, sending my dearest love to you

    Xx Dany

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  26. In lieu of the trip to Hawaii your family Luau was a great celebration! Thanks for sharing it with us, Karen! xx

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  27. Hi my dear Karen! I'm back and catching up after being on a bit of a break. I hope to even post tomorrow!

    I LOVED everything about this party. Such cute and clever ideas. And so colorful. Jennie truly has the perfect backyard for it. And Heather is positively glowing.

    And Ethan is getting so big and is so adorable!! What blessings with all of these sweet grandbabies.

    Wishing you all a very blessed Labor Day weekend ahead. xoxo

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  28. Everything....it's all so perfect. The fun, the food and most of all the family.

    Your birthday girl is radiant!!!

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  29. Oh my! Looks like a very special time. The decorations are adorable! I am sure she was very pleased with the special thought that went into this Luau and the many memories that were made!

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  30. Oh what a lovely post! Lovely and happy pictures and some Hawaii - just great!
    Love from Titti

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  31. Just one word sums up this post ...

    LOVELY

    Your words, your fabulous photo's and family fun.

    PERFECT

    ... well I used two words! LOL!

    Have a lovely weekend, and a happy September

    All the best Jan

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  32. Karen, Aloha! What a delightful Hawaiian evening. Love all the island touches and food. The cupcakes - oh my! Congratulations on the new grandbaby!

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  33. Oh that looks like a fun birthday celebration, full of fun and ended with a fire to sit around, hope she has a wonderful year ahead!

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  34. Dear Karen,

    Happy belated birthday to your dear daughter and wishing her a great year ahead. looks like such a fun Hawaiian themed party with wonderful food and fun. Your daughters cottage is so beautiful.
    Have a great Sunday
    Hugs
    Carolyn

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  35. Happy birthday to your children. You have had a really good time.

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  36. What a lovely luau! Happy birthday to each of your late summer/early fall babies! What a great day of cute fun...one day hopefully she will get to Hawaii after all. In the meantime...what could be better!?

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  37. What a wonderful party for your daughter to have for her sister. Bringing Hawaii to her! And her cottage is just so adorable. Know your daughter is very excited about the impending arrival of her baby . Such an exciting event! Thank you so much for sharing this lovely party with us, and will look forward to hearing about the new little one coming soon!

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  38. Dear Karen, how nice to organize a Hawaiian Party for your daughter! She really does have an extra glow on the photos and looks very pretty!
    I came across misters for the first when we were in Austin, Texas last year in August. They are so effective and refreshing, it was quite astounding to me. Cool that you had them for the party!
    Oh and before I forget, I love the Dachshunds!
    Wishing you a wonderful September!
    Warm regards,
    Christina

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  39. Dear Karen, what a fabulous party and so well themed and decorated. I love it and her darling cottage!! Happy Birthday to your pretty daughter! Special memories were made for sure. Love all your wonderful pics. The little one is adorable.
    Happy September! Blessings xo

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  40. Dear Karen, what a fabulous party and so well themed and decorated. I love it and her darling cottage!! Happy Birthday to your pretty daughter! Special memories were made for sure. Love all your wonderful pics. The little one is adorable.
    Happy September! Blessings xo

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  41. What a great idea to bring the Luau to her since she's unable to travel now. It looks like you all had a great time at the party and the decorations were really cool. What a cute cottage!

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  42. What a great idea to bring Hawaï to your daughter for her birthday. She looks radiant.

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  43. You can never give enough love, I like that. I feel that way about my beautiful Dog. Can't stop hugging him.
    yvonne

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  44. Sorry I'm late to this. I'm taking advantage of the rain we are experiencing now to catch up.

    Let's start at the beginning...what a lovely home your daughter has. As you said, charming is an apt description.

    You're so right about your daughter. She's glowing and so very beautiful. How exciting for you all!

    The party was filled with so many details that made it extra special and fun. I'm sure everyone had a blast, and what a great idea to bring Hawaii to her.

    xxx

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  45. This is just lovely Karen. So full of great decor ideas! What a fun time you all had in your daughter's pretty backyard. The men did a great job on the fence! It looks like a lot of fun.

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Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are important to me and are very much appreciated. xx Karen

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