Makena wanted a Frozen party the shortly after she saw the movie. I rolled my eyes at the idea, tried to suggest other things, but she was insistent. Her 3rd birthday party was a snow theme, and we had some leftover stuff, and other friends gave us their leftover Frozen stuff, so we went for it! She says she wants her 6th birthday at Chuck-E-Cheese's so she can go inside the ticket blaster thing. We'll see. After this party I felt really done with party planning. And that bums me out because I used to really LOVE party planning! I mean, I still do, but I just wish we had more money I guess, so that I could do more and not feel guilty about every little dollar.
We had her party at preschool. She made the guest list, inviting a few new friends from preschool. She asked for a pinata. I don't like pinatas, but we found a hilariously huge one for cheap. We filled it with blue and white and silver beads, blue bead necklaces, bracelets, York peppermint patties, mini packages of Frozen jellybeans, and blue candy canes.
We had bags and foam snowflakes for the kids to decorate with stickers, pin the carrot nose on Olaf, and that's about it for activities. So much for freeze dance and musical chairs, both of which Makena asked to do but we forgot. Thankfully she didn't bring it up! The kids also got a blue pipe cleaner to take home and string their beads on to. After the pinata broke open (this thing was too-well constructed, I ended up having to rip it apart and shake it out!) the kids sat under it quietly for a while, collecting beads in the tanbark. The next day at school some kids were still delighted to find more beads! I bet there are more still there.
We had her party at preschool. She made the guest list, inviting a few new friends from preschool. She asked for a pinata. I don't like pinatas, but we found a hilariously huge one for cheap. We filled it with blue and white and silver beads, blue bead necklaces, bracelets, York peppermint patties, mini packages of Frozen jellybeans, and blue candy canes.
We had bags and foam snowflakes for the kids to decorate with stickers, pin the carrot nose on Olaf, and that's about it for activities. So much for freeze dance and musical chairs, both of which Makena asked to do but we forgot. Thankfully she didn't bring it up! The kids also got a blue pipe cleaner to take home and string their beads on to. After the pinata broke open (this thing was too-well constructed, I ended up having to rip it apart and shake it out!) the kids sat under it quietly for a while, collecting beads in the tanbark. The next day at school some kids were still delighted to find more beads! I bet there are more still there.
Makena asked for an ice cream cake. I looked up some recipes but decided it would be better to make a regular cake and decorate it awesomely. Then we decided to make the cake special by putting surprise blue polka dots inside it, like snowballs! It came out really well and was a huge hit! Pam made a sheet of blue glass candy, and shattered it into pieces to make an ice castle.
While singing happy birthday Makena gave Pam a little hug, then she turned and gave me one. She is really the sweetest thing!
Hadley had a blast with the balloons!
Makena got some really fantastic gifts- a trio of different ice cream store gift cards for her own frozen enjoyment, Legos, games, clothes, and a bunch of fun crafts including Shrinky-Dinks! I know a lot of people don't do gifts for their kids birthdays, and I totally understand that. Some kids have entire bedrooms and playrooms full of toys. And while my kids do have more toys than they need, they don't really get new toys or clothes or other things throughout the year. Christmas and their birthday are when we pull every resource together to shower them with their needs and wants and fun stuff to mix it all up and tide us over until next year.
Earlier in the morning of her party day (which was 2 days before her real birthday) I gave her the American Girl doll that I'd been so excited to give to her! She's been asking for one ever since the store opened near us. That year we got her the Target knock-off version, but the quality is clearly lacking. She has two of those dolls and their hair is a horrendous mess and they don't stand up. Makena really wanted to have a real AG doll and go to the salon and cafe at the store. A friend of mine contacted me and said she had a doll that she wanted to give to me for Makena. I was thrilled!! The doll is in beautiful condition, and she gave me some clothes too. I was worried that Makena wouldn't completely love the doll, since it's not one that looks like her. She has the catalog and has circled the dolls that have light skin and curly hair. This doll has medium skin and straight hair. But thankfully she loves her! My mom is going to bring Makena to store for a day of fun, they have reservations at the bistro and I can't wait to see photos!! My mom also got her an Elsa dress for her doll, which was perfect for the party!
On the day of her birthday we dropped her off at preschool and went on a tour at a local school we are hoping to send her to. After that we joined her in class and she did her sun walk, carrying the earth around 5 times. We asked where she wanted to go for her birthday meal (lunch, since I had a meeting later and would miss dinner time) and she picked PF Chang's, "the place with the noodles and Baby Buddha Feast!" (Which is steamed broccoli, carrots, and snap peas... things she eats at home practically every day, lol.)
After lunch we went to the American Girl doll store, with her doll, who she named Rebecca Alexis. The name is awesomely ironic, because those are practically the same names of the girls whose mom gave me the doll. Kismet! She got to pick out a hair brush and pair of pajamas for her doll. Pam also bought Makena a Razor scooter, pink with light-up wheels of course! It was a fun day. And now we have a 5 year old. And a 1 year old. And basically my life is this crazy dream.
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