birthday day three...Tinkerbell style

While the kiddos nap to gear up for a late(r) night on the 4th of July, I have a few extra minutes to finish sharing Mikayla's birthday - day three. Birthday fun - days 1 & 2 can be found HERE.

DAY THREE
(April 29, 2010 - the "friend" party)

Mikayla invited three of her best friends to come join her for a day of birthday fun! I loved how simple this party turned out to be and yet the girls had so much fun together! It was a "drop and go" kind of party (the first!) and it was really fun to have just the girls (and Austin) for this intimate little party.

The party was "Tinkerbell" themed (Can you believe it? No cute party invitations this year! I think Mikayla will forgive me for that.) We had extra fairy wings and tutus for the girls, so that everyone could dress like a fairy.

Ellie, Allie, Ava, & Mikayla

I made each of the girls fairy head pieces using star "twine" (not sure what to call that) and then added some flowers to the back, along with some pieces of ribbon to hang down. I found the most adorable flower wands at K-Mart and added a green ribbon to the purple that was already there just to add a little more "Tinkerbell" to it.

For decorations...

The birthday table - simple, but pretty! One of the best parts? I found mostly everything in my "party supplies" box. The only thing I purchased were the flowers.

A little splash of Tinkerbell color!
Hello, Dollar Tree. *wink*
For entertainment...

Bounce the balloon with your fairy wand (totally made that up on the spot!) I turned on the music and we tried to see if the girls could keep the balloon in the air by bouncing it with their wands.

Then I took the girls outside (during the rain break) and we played in the bubble machine, popping the bubbles with their wands.

After we blew off some energy, the girls came inside and they decorated baggies that we would be using for the fairy scavenger hunt a little bit later. Austin was such the little helper. I was so proud of him for letting Mikayla have "her day"!

I had little slips of paper hidden throughout the house and in each location was a small "treasure" that the girls could put in their baggie. I had been on the lookout for little things I could pick up for the girls and with their only being four, I spoiled them a bit. Some of the treasures included: Tinkerbell green body glitter, Tinkerbell chapstick, Tinkerbell notebook/pen, Tinkerbell ring, Pixie sticks, bracelets. I was going to try to rhyme each clue, but the reality of everything I had to do won and I didn't. Instead, I had the girls chant after each clue, "We're going on a fairy hunt. We're gonna find some treasure!" They LOVED it!! Again - so simple, but it was a hit!
on the menu...

"Fairy Fizz" (pink lemonade with a scoop of raspberry sherbert), lime Jello, pretzels, carrots, grapes, and a star-shaped PB & J

For dessert, we had individual-size shortcake with strawberries and Cool Whip. YUM!
After lunch it was present time!

I LOVE this picture!!
On the way out the door, each girl got to take home a pretzel rod Rice Krispie treat fairy wand.
And of course, the rest of their baggie of goodies.

The day was a hit and Mikayla fell asleep dreaming in Tinkerbell vision.

Hope you enjoyed the birthday pics! I love birthday parties!!

I have so much more to share...so hopefully I'll be back soon!

it's never too late for my birthday girl!

10 weeks ago, my little girl turned 4 years old. Yes, TEN WEEKS AGO...and I have yet to share any pictures of her birthday on my blog (although I did post pictures on my Facebook page, so that counts for something, right?). As this is a blog for me to document memories, I still wanted to share some pictures of her special day(s).

DAY ONE
(April 22, 2010 - Mikayla's "actual" birthday)

The morning started off with a surprise from mom and dad...The Littlest Pet Shop!! (Side note: my sister had a friend who was selling all of her pet shop toys for a great price and so we decided to buy them and save it for Mikayla's birthday. It was a hit and light on the pocket book, too!)

It's our tradition to give the kids a birthday donut for breakfast! And, during breakfast, we got a phone call from Grammy (who lives in Alaska) wishing Mikyala a happy birthday!

Ryan happened to have the day off, so we headed to Chuck E Cheese's where it was strangely quiet (that' a good thing!). The kids had a blast having the place {mostly} all to themselves.

For lunch we did the typical "free kids meal" treat and headed over to Red Robin. They sang to her (which she became very shy) and then she and Austin shared her birthday sundae!

After some quiet time/nap time, the kids played Wii with daddy, made {sugar free, fat free} pudding for dessert, and Mikayla got to open one more present from her "brother", which was a tin of princess games. We played together and found out that Mikayla is a pro at playing Memory. After sandwiches for dinner (a request from the birthday girl), we had Jello chocolate pudding for dessert and then called it a long and exhausting night.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

DAY TWO
(April 25, 2010 - The "family" party!)

Because of our move only 3 weeks earlier, I decided to keep things simple this year. And guess what? The kids had just as much fun! *wink* I added a touch of Tinkerbell into the mix as I had some things that I was going to use for her friend party that was going to happen a few days later.

Cupcake Cones with sprinkles!

The food...with a little touch of purple & green decor.
Pizza came later...
4 of 7 cousins (from both sides of the family) came to help celebrate Mikayla's birthday - we ate yummy food, played (and sweated in the sun), helped open presents, posed for pictures, and enjoyed being together.

Then it was on to singing Happy Birthday to the birthday girl and blowing out the candles. We enjoyed cupcakes in a cone, but the *wow* factor wasn't a hit for the kids. They didn't want the cone part!! (note to self for next time: just make regular cupcakes)...but they were cute!

The day ended with Mikayla wearing her *new* Tinkerbell jammies to bed. I couldn't help, but notice that as I tucked her into bed she looked much older to me...well, at least one year older.
My 4-year old girl.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Yes, there is a DAY THREE (friend party), but that will have to wait until tomorrow...or as soon as I can get to it. Let's just hope it's not 10 weeks from now. Good grief!