III Birthday Bash

For the past week, Hassie Clare and Quinn have been beaming with excitement while preparing for their princess birthday party. Every day and night we have talked about the party, who was attending, the food, the moon bounce, their cakes and of course the pinata (or as HC says Pimyatta). By the look on their face Saturday, I'm assuming their party was everything they hoped it would be!

Balloon delivery by Paw Paw a few hours before the party.

I'm a planner. I schedule everything and plan things down to a tee. I function best this way and most of the time my life is a "smooth" ride. I mention this because for the first time in my life, I did not allow my OCD planning skills to kick in for this event. Let me start by saying that most of the folks that attended the party, especially the kids, had no idea about my lack of planning. Except for the fact that we ran out of food and drink. Not really ran out of food, but there was not a crumb to spare. Not really ran out of drink because there was water and beer. Of course had Hassie Clare not helped herself to 17 juice boxes out on the back deck there might have been more for the other kids.

We had 58 guests at the party and a hand full of itty bitty babies. We had a moon bounce courtesy of a close family friend, we set up the little roller coaster, got all the motorized toys and tricycles out and let the kids play. Of course they could always come inside to cool down and jump on the little indoor trampoline or play in the girls playroom stocked full of fun stuff for little ones. I ordered 10 large pizzas, had little pinwheel sandwiches, an abundance of spinach dip, mango salsa and watermelon. All of it was gone within an hour. I made 4 gallons of lemonade, had a case of juice boxes and a 12 pack of Sierra Mist. All of it was gone within and hour and a half. I have NEVER ran out of food or drink in all my years as a hostess. Serves me right for not planning better! In my defense, about 15ish folks showed up without RSVP'ing BUT it is so worth it cause the party would not have been the same without them!

We did not see Quinn for the first hour because she stayed in the moon bounce. When we finally dragged her out of it her face was the color of a bright cherry tomato. Hassie Clare stayed by our outdoor cooler (we call it the baptismal) sucking down juice boxes and eating ice. When she would see one of use coming she would dart out to the moon bounce.

Already crusin with a dude in her Jeep!

About an hour and 30 mins into the party Cinderella and her fairy godmother were suppose to make a special appearance. They were 30 mins late (had I had my planning hat on, I would have followed up with them that morning to make sure they were going to be on time!). It actually worked out good because all the little girls were waiting on our front porch when Cinderella walked up our driveway. Let me back up - Quinn had a melt down about 10 mins before Cinderella got there. She got hurt (not sure if it was feelings or physical) on the moon bounce, was overheated, thirsty and tired. She was stuck on me like a baby monkey. In addition, the fairy godmother had a cape on and Quinn wanted nothing to do with Cinderella or the godmother after she saw that. She has NEVER liked anything that was in costume. I thought Cinderella would be different but I was wrong. She kept her eyes shut 98% of the time Cinderella was there. Hassie Clare, on the other hand, LOVED LOVED LOVED every min of it. The excitement on her face was priceless!

Hassie Clare when she first saw Cinderella walking up the driveway.

When you ask Quinn why she was scared of Cinderella she says she wasn't scared, she was sleepy. Funny how when Cinderella and her fairy godmother left Quinn was full of energy!

The only way to get Quinn in the pic was to hold her and turn sideways.

Cinderella helped us sing happy birthday (only once to both girls and I swore I would always sing to them individually but everything felt rushed). We will sing happy birthday to each of them this weekend when we celebrate it again! We opened a few presents and then half of the folks left. The other half hung around for another hour or so and then left. I was not ready for anyone to leave!

It seemed like I blinked and it was over .... and this was a long birthday party. I never got a chance to sit down and talk with anyone. Some of these friends I only see once or twice a year and I hate that I missed the opportunity to visit with them. Most of all, I never got to watch my girls interact with their friends. I wish I had planned things better so that I maybe I would have had a chance to "stop and smell the roses." Although I love having their birthday parties at our house, I think next year we will do a "destination" party so that I don't miss a thing!

This pic cracks me up because she was sitting on the edge of her playground and no one was near her. She was sipping a "pretend" juice out of her Walmart cart and having an intense conversation. We are not quite sure who she was talking too???????

No regrets. My girls had a blast and still talk about it with excitement and that is all that really matters to me. I think our friends and family had a good time. I'm pretty sure all the little girls will be talking about Cinderella for awhile.

After the party, my family (Mom, Fred, Amy, Brad, Karrie, Brent, David, Jennifer and kids) packed up and we headed over to the BBQ joint around the corner from our house (Natural Born Grillers). The girls danced to the music on the jukebox, we ate ribs and BBQ nachos and enjoyed each others company. Afterwards, we came back to the house and parked our hiney's on the back deck. Uncle Dave and the girls caught fireflies. Quinn thought by running fast with her hand in the air she could catch some ....... it was too cute to even describe. Jack, Joise, Amy and Brad started a water balloon fight (water balloons courtesy of Nana... or course). So many memories were made!

The night ended with each of girls curling up in my lap and falling right to sleep. They only do this on the night of their birthday parties. Thank goodness for night vision on the camera to capture the memory. It is the best present they could ever give me!

Quinnie Ray

Hassie Clare Bear

This last pic is of the girls at 3am. They were exhausted! Hassie Clare was turned around backwards in her bed and Quinn was half on / half off her bed sound asleep!