Grace's 3rd Birthday Party

Well I think that I can safely say that Grace's Fairy party was successful, if her excitement is anything to go by.

Everyone arrived nice and early at 8am for a morning tea/breakfast. The bonus of having it early morning was avoiding the heat and also hopefully wearing the kids out so that they slept and I wasn't left blamed for sugar induced hyperactivity!

The theme was Fairies and Grace was pleased to see all her little friends turn up in lots of pretty tulle, ribbons and wings. Grace wore her beautiful dress that Grandma made especially for her, she looked absolutely gorgeous.

Grandma and Poppy arrived first, eager to give Grace her present that they have had stored at their house for ages. Duane & I have been nervous, expecting something loud and no doubt annoying - but we were both pleasantly surprised. Grace was given her very own set of real golf clubs, complete with a cute little bag. She's had a hit around the back yard with them, but can't wait for Dad to take her out for a real game!

The backyard was decorated with streamers and over-inflated balloons that randomly went "Pop" throughout the morning, scareing small children. The trampoline was transformed into a fairy castle, thanks to the mosquito net and hoop. The kids all had a blast playing in the jumping castle and the crazy amount of outdoor toys that we had. Little Logan spent the majority of the morning with his Daddy in the sandpit digging to China. The dress-up box was raided as children rummaged through it looking for the perfect outfit.

Pass the parcel went smoothly, adults only having to step in a few times as over excited children started unwrapping before the music stopped! Tsk, tsk!

The kids were all excited to unwrap their goodies. The girls all got bracelets and necklaces, the boys a Thomas the Tank engine and the babies a Mr Happy stuffed toy. Once the excitement of running around with their presents wore off we headed out the front to hunt for the fairies.

I had made up little cards with a picture of Grace dressed up as a fairy and instructions for where to find the next fairy. Emily helped all the kids decipher the clues and lead them in the right direction. Fairies were found in the letterbox, in the Lily bush, in the Agave, in the chook house and then the last clue led the kids to the trampoline. They all ran excitedly back into the backyard and straight to the last hiding place. Under the trampoline was a large treasure box with a note on the outside to open it up. The box was dragged to under the patio and then eagerly the lid was lifted. Inside was a pencil case with each child's name on it! They were all handed out, and each one opened to reveal the goodies inside. The girls had a toy horse, tiny teddies, necklace, gold coins, lollipop and whistle. The boys had all the same food but also a matchbox car, and the boy babies only got a book!

The kids spent the rest of the morning grazing on all the delicious homemade food. There were sausage rolls, mini quiches, mini pies, fairy bread, fruit kebabs, cupcakes, jelly cakes, jelly breakfast trifles and marshmallow truffles. All homemade but still laden with lots of hyper-producing-activity! Made for lots of running around and noise, that's for sure!

Grace was very spoilt with all her presents. She was given a craft caddy full of craft activities, stickers, spiky ball, gorgeous bikini, magic book, do-it yourself mask, make your own fairy book and craft paper.

The cake and singing Happy birthday was next on the agenda. Now I know that it doesn't look too bad in photos, but I really wasn't that happy with how the cake turned out. I had pre-made and frozen the cake the week before and started decorating it on Saturday. It was such a hot and sticky day, which certainly wasn't helpful when dealing with rolled icing. I had so much trouble getting the icing to stop sticking to the rolling pin & the bench, basically it adhered itself to everything except the cake! After wrestling with the icing to get it to the perfect pink colour, I then had the tricky task of getting it onto the cake. With lots of cursing, re-doing and touch-ups finally it was on and looking ok. Next big task was the fiddly decorations. Remembering that the heat was not helping, all the little balls rolled of and everywhere. I ended up changing the type of decorations that I used, the others were way too fiddly and I was running out of time.

Grace was thrilled with the end result, which being as it is her special day, that is the result I wanted. I may or may not let her pick her cake again next year - or I may just sway her to something a little less time-consuming!



It seems that Fairies get tired too. After the last guests had gone and the presents were all fawned over, Grace crashed on the couch for a well deserved rest. Isn't she just gorgeous!