Grace's 5th Birthday Party

Grace's 5th birthday party was always going to be big and hectic.  Being that next year she is starting Prep, I was encouraging of her inviting along her kindy friends that will be in her class next year.  She also had all her mothers group kids that she wanted to come along, plus all the family friends.  Add on to that siblings and it wasn't long before the amount of kids invited was 26!  Jen and I decided that seen as how they were inviting the same people (bar a few), and Grace and Cass's actual birthdays are a day apart, we'd kill 2 birthdays with 1 party - so to speak.

With this amount of people, there was no way I was having it at my house.  Jen and I spent one day a few weeks ago park hopping, trying to find the best location suitable for a variety of ages.  We found some nice ones near the beach, but they were either too close to the road or too big, which would have made it difficult for those with younger ones.  We did want to be close to water though, as typically on the girls birthdays it's hot, however this year has been unseasonally cold.  After much toing and froing, we decided on a lovely park and swimming area behind the Arts Centre. 

The day before the party was spent baking, preparing and organising.  We kept it quite simple, but knowing that we had 26 hungry kids and about 20 parents coming along, there needed to be plenty.  Grace had already decided on the menu, and we stuck fairly close to her requests.  There were egg and mayo sandwiches, cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches, vegetarian sausage rolls, plain chips, carrot and celery, lots of dips, all different cheeses, fruit sticks, crackers and the favourite - scones with jam and cream, all 150 of them!  Not one of the scones were left over either, a particular favourite of the fathers that brought their kids along!

We set the kids up making "bliss ball's" for the party bags, and they all had fun mixing, stirring and rolling.   The bags were made up with the bliss balls, stickers and some gold chocolate coins - very simple!

Grace and Cass had wanted some party games, but they were all forgotten about on the day.  The kids were all too busy swimming in the lake and playing at the park.  It was hectic, but all the kids were perfect and had a wonderful time.  Grace was a little upset in the car on the way home, as she had been practicing skipping and was looking forward to doing it with her friends.

A few months ago, Grace had asked for a Wizard of Oz party.  I couldn't work out how to do that, but I did keep the rainbow theme in the cake.  I'd spent the day before the party baking all 6 layers, the oven was going non-stop for 6 hours!!!  Each layer was coloured naturally, as I was trying to avoid the dreaded artificial food dye.  Red was done with raspberries, orange was turmeric and orange peel/juice, yellow was lemon peel and juice, green was kiwi fruit, blue was blueberries and purple was beetroot.  The outside was iced with cream cheese, lemon juice and pureed raspberries.  It was initially double this height, but that was a bit ridiculous, so I cut each layer in half and that is in my freezer for another occasion.  Grace was so happy with how it turned out, and told me it was delicious! 

Grace was spoilt completely with lots of beautiful, thoughtful presents.  She has lots of new summer clothes, some fantastic stories to read, lots of crafty activities and many more wonderful gifts. 

After most people had left, I set my good camera up and let the kids take some pics.  I was so amazed that they actually could get the shot in frame and focus (something their father still struggles with!)  Finally, I have some nice photos of me and the kids.

I don't normally like doing the kids parties on their actual birthday, it can make the day seem so hurried and too busy.  However, this year her birthday fell on a Saturday, so it turned out that way.  We had the party late in the afternoon so that we could spend some time together in the morning and to not rush the present handovers.  Grace woke up at 4am and asked if she could get up yet, she was so excited about turning 5!  She was a little disappointed that she still couldn't whistle though, she was under the impression that as soon as you turned 5 you could magically do it as her good friend Sairayah learnt to whistle the day she turned 5!  When we eventually got up, at a much decent hour, I gave her the present Nanny  had sent up.  She got a beautiful white and coral peasant top, some lip glosses and a hair brush and comb set.  She loved them all.  Grandma and Poppy came up later and gave her their present, which was a dress-up felt set and a hand-bag money box - both things that Grace had seen and loved on shopping trips.

 She had asked me a year or so ago for a dolly like the one she has up at her pre-school, she loved her long hair and dressing her up.  So, I borrowed her for a week and went to work making one similar.  It took a week of late nights and lots of re-doing, but eventually she was created.  I wanted to give her similar colours to Grace, so she has blue eyes, different shades of blonde hair and creamy skin tones.  The excited smile on her face as she unwrapped her was worth every stitch.  She loved her instantly.  A few hours later she whispered to me that she loves playing with the dolly like her at pre-school, but never gets a turn as there are so many other people that want to play with her.  She has named her "Marabella Lavinia Chandelier", after the doll in her favourite Fancy Nancy books.  Marabella has been beside her ever since, and often accompanies us to outings!

We all had a wonderful day celebrating 5 years of having the gorgeous Grace in our lives. 

Happy Birthday Grace!