C 8th Birthday Pool Party

For the past few years C has been requesting a pool party for her birthday.  The problem was the minimum age limit to swim alone was 8.  So this was finally the year.

We booked a party at the local leisure center (sort of like a YMCA).  For the party, we were given exclusive use of the lap pool for an hour with a dedicated lifeguard.  Easy peasy.

The kids could also use the big slide in the center of the pool which they loved.

After the hour pool time, we had a dedicated party room next to the cafe.  Not surprisingly, most of the kids opted to eat candy over sandwiches.  I had brought some themed candy back from the U.S. which included swedish fish and gummy sharks plus a huge box of cheddar fish crackers none of which you can buy in the UK. I also brought back nutter butters and made flip flops out of them.  At a local store I found marshmallow lobsters and tropical gummy fish.


We also made blue mixed berry jello (water), filled it with whip cream (waves) and topped it with a fish.  Very popular with the kiddies.  Would you believe that they don't sell Jello in the UK either??

For cake, I tried my hand at fondant with the intent of making a cake that looked like the scales on a mermaid fin.  The good news is that I managed to make the fondant and figure out coloring.  The bad news was that the fondant was a bit too soft (I skipped the leave it to chill overnight part) which made the scales a bit wonky.  Looked better from afar.  C loved it though so I guess that's all the matters.



As favors, we gave the kids tie-dyed goggles as well as sacks to put their wet bathing suits and towels into.  There were a few other sea-themed goodies including a mermaid necklace, fish tattoos and stickers and a fortune-teller fish.

Happy Birthday, C!