The McDougal Family: Haley's Endless 30th Birthday Party!

So, Haley turned the big 3-0 this year and we had a blast celebrating. I swear it was the longest celebration of a birthday party there ever was! It was really great, though, because Erin and Daniel and Claire got to come for the party. The weekend of her actual birthday we had a party at our house to celebrate. We were planning on swimming and hanging out. We had decorated the entire back yard and we had paper lanterns hung over the tables where we were going to eat. Then, about thirty minutes before the party was supposed to start, a torrential downpour commenced! We ran outside and started pulling all of the tables, tablecloths, table decorations, chairs, and gifts onto the porch and out of the rain. We even had to grab the lanterns off of the fishing wire that we hung them from because they were paper! Needless to say, it was not the best thing that could have happened. We hung out on the porch for awhile (all of us, guests and all), and listened to songs from Haley's life. Clinton made a mixed CD with songs that were number one on Billboard's list on every birthday that Haley has ever had. It was a pretty random mix of music but it was really entertaining. We had some Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Paul McCartney, Maroon 5, Donna Summer, and many more. It was fun. Claire did a really funny dance to "Livin' La Vida Loca" and we couldn't stop laughing. About 30 minutes after the party started, we were able to put everything back out in the yard and start cooking. We made fajitas and appetizers. We also made Mai Tais, which are Haley's favorite drink, and ate pickles and sunflower seeds which are also two of her favorite things in the world. My mom made huge fans for everyone, since it was so hot, with pictures of Haley throughout her life. Some people swam, and Clinton and Jason did diving tricks off of the fountain. Tanner did not like seeing Clinton do this and she kept saying, "Daddy, no!". I'm sure it looked very strange to her to see her daddy flipping in mid-air! We watched a slideshow that makes me cry every time I see it and Clinton made Haley sit in a chair all by herself in front of the TV for the viewing. It was the "birthday chair". We had a great time, but the party didn't stop there! The next day, we went to New Braunfels to hang out with Haley, Jason, Sofi, Erin, Daniel, and Claire. The girls played in the back yard and splashed around in a bowl of water. On Memorial Day, we went out for lunch and then to the park to feed the ducks. Tanner still hasn't really gotten over her duck phobia so it takes her awhile before she will let us put her down every time we go. We had so much fun with everyone that weekend!

The next weekend, Jason had a surprise in store for Haley. He had rented a beach house on the coast in Port Aransas for everyone to stay and keep celebrating Haley's birthday (minus Erin and Daniel because they had to go home). We cooked shrimp and ate cake one night, and we hung out at the beach a lot. My mom decorated the cake table with the bedding from Haley's nursery. My Aunt Linda brought hats for everyone to wear and we had a great time deciding which ones we wanted. It was so much fun and we can't wait to go to the coast again! So, in short (not!), Haley had a great month-long birthday!

A face-off in the park