Sami's Birthday

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit for Sami's birthday. It was great because it gave me a extra pairs of hands (especially in helping to prepare for the party) and the kids loved having them here. Here's the whole trip in pictures (it was pretty much all about Sami's birthday):

Sami posing in front of her presents

Mikey helping Sami open presents

Reading one of Sami's presents (if you haven't figured it out, Dora the Explorer was the theme this year). I couldn't resist Dora, Sami looks just like her. Plus, I think Dora offers some education to the kids. Although, I really enjoy Little Einsteins the most.
Here's Sami and Grandpa being silly before bed. Thank you to GG for another adorable nightgown. Sami looks good in most colors, but this color is striking on her.
SAMI'S BIRTHDAY PARTY!

If you've ever watched Dora the Explorer you know that she pretty much follows the same sequence in all shows. The party was put together to follow the sequence. Everyone received a map when they walked in the door. Map (an actual character on the show) led us to the pinata with stops at a coloring table, Backpack (another character), Swiper (the "bad" guy), food, cake, and then finally, the pinata.

Here's the coloring table. The bright colored paper rolled up with the kids are the maps. I liked these coloring pages because it was color by number. They did pretty well.

Here's the Backpack game. They each were blindfolded and would pull an item out of Backpack. If they guessed what it was they won a prize. Everyone won a prize.

As you can see, the girls were intrigued just with watching the game.
Next was Swiper! Basically, it was "Duck, Duck, Goose" but instead of saying "Duck, Duck" the kids said "Dora, Boots" (Boots is Dora's monkey sidekick) and then instead of "Goose" the kids would say "Swiper". This is me explaining the game to the kids.
Dora...Boots...Dora...
...SWIPER!! Run Sami, Run!

We added some musical chairs to the mix to add some more fun. The kids really enjoyed this game too...



Sami got a chair! I can't remember who actually won.
Since Dora is Latina, we went with Fiesta food. We had quesadillas, soft tacos, and fruit and vegetable shish kabobs. It was all very yummy!

My friend Nadia made the cake. I was honored to be her first paying customer for Nadia's Yummy Creations, or NYC. She is amazing at this. They are yummy and as you can see, truly amazing looking. I've also had the wonderful job of tasting many of her creations at many of the parties she's baked cakes. I'll get the link and post it for you to order one of her cakes (if you live around here).
Can you believe she does this all on her own? That's Boots, the monkey to Dora's left and in front are Map and Backpack.

Here are the kids admiring the cake
Here's Sami licking her lips
Everyone seems to be satisfied
Including Roman

So here we are! We finally made it to the Pinata! Sami was the first to go...

Even Roman had a chance

Here's a quick video of all the fun.

Sami hugging Dora goodbye. BTW - In case you didn't notice, Sami is actually dressed like Dora.

Here's Sami dressed up like a princess holding her Dora doll.
Princess Sami making beautiful music

Here's some video of the beautiful music... hah! Just kidding. Here's a warning: it's only beautiful to those who think my kids are precious and to those who find screaming sibling rivalry sweet... view at your own risk.