The Lund Five: September 2008

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Reagan's Hawaiian Luau Birthday Party

Last Friday was Reagan's 2nd Birthday. I decided that it would be fun to do a Hawaiian Luau/Flip Flop Theme. I did a lot of research on the internet and I came up with some really good ideas. First I decided to make some flip-flop invitations. I found a pattern online and printed it off to make the invitation. Here is a picture of the invite.The invitation says: "Palm Trees and Sandy Beaches are really far away, so we're bringing Hawaii to us to celebrate a 2nd Birthday! Reagan, the Island girl, invites you to surf on over for a Hula Girl Luau! It then gives all the information for the party.

In my research for party ideas I came across a website that translates your real name into your Hawaiian name. The website is http://www.alohafriendsluau.com/. It was really fun looking up everyone's Hawaiian name. Then I made name tags for everyone with their Hawaiian name. When people arrived at the party I gave them their Hawaiian nametag to wear around their neck. I've never been to Hawaii but I guess it is what getting a lei when you get off the plane is like.

We started the party off by having all the little kids do a craft. For the craft we made flower leis. I punched out different colored flowers using a punch that I have and then I cut 1" pieces of straws. I off course had to use Neon colored straws so it would be bright. The kids all had a lot of fun putting together their leis.

Then it was time to eat dinner. For dinner we had Hawaiian Haystacks, Fruit salad, and Rolls. There were also cheese balls for those who wanted them. It was all really good. At Harmons I found a cute little daisy veggie/dip tray and I used that to put the toppings for the Hawaiian Haystacks in.

After dinner we tried to play a game called "Pass the Coconut." The younger kids didn't really understand how the game was played but it was still fun. I found some Hawaiian music on iTunes and downloaded it onto a disc for the game. Landon was disappointed that we didn't learn the Hula or Limbo, so we are going to do that tonight. We are also going to cut open the coconut to show the kids what is inside.

Then it was present time. Reagan was really excited to open her present. If it was a toy she would hand it to me and say "open" because she wanted it out of the box. When she opened Farfar's card and saw the money she justed dropped it on the ground. I say give her a couple years and she won't be doing that.

I love that last picture because it really shows her excitement. After presents we had cake and Ice Cream. I made the flip flop cake using a template I found online at http://www.bettycrocker.com/. It was a lot of fun to make and I think that it turned out pretty well.

One thing I forgot to mention is that a lot of the kids wore their Hawaiian clothes compliments to Uncle Jake for bringing back clothes when he went to Hawaii in May. At the end of the party I passed out the goodie bags. I ordered all the stuff for the goodie bags from Oriental Trading. The only stuff not from there were the food items. They even had flip-flop goodie bags.