Sunday, July 13, 2014

And now she's 5.. Wow.


Five years ago, we had an Olive.  Not just any Olive, a special one.  And today we celebrated her turning five.  When we asked her what type of party she would like, she was quite set on having a 'fairy party'.  So the invites went out and our preparations began.


The big day began by spreading balloons all over the house.  When she woke up, they lead her right to all the presents that had been piling up throughout the week.  She was very excited.  


But first, we had to do our morning chore, the 'cat parade', where we walk around the house with the cat food, and two hungry cats marching behind us  (Please note the authentic 'bed head' on daddy).


Time to open the gifts!


First gift a success.  Her very first swim goggles!  She loves to swim and likes to dive for underwater rings.  This should help her with that, and add to her cute factor a bit.  ;)


The O'Connels sent along a BIG box..


LEGOES!!


And then Grandma Cathy and Grandpa Jim sent an even BIGGER box full of stickers, puzzles, markers and stamps.  All fairy related.  Olive tore right into them and didn't want to stop!


Guests arrived at 11.  Mostly friends from Ribet (where she just finished up pre-K).  All girls.  Though they just saw each other yesterday, each arrival was met with shrieks, shouts, hugs, and giggles.


Since Rebecca does most of the 'dropping off' at Ribet, I got to meet many of the parents for the first time.  I see many more birthday parties with this group to come.


  Rebecca has been planning the party for weeks, and has a bunch of fun activities planned for everyone.  The first activity for the the fairy party:  Make your own fairy crown.


Jessica and mommy begin with the base -


Phoebe and Matt start adding flowers, butterflies, and leaves.


We also hired Georgie, a wonderful 8 year old face painter.  Brave Chris was the first to jump in and test the waters.


Julie was second.  Georgie's work was AWESOME!  Through out the day she did rainbows, stars, dragons, flowers, kitty kats, and more.  Lets just say Georgie was busy!


Second activity:  Paint your own fairy pots!


Lots and arts and crafts at their school, so these girls knew right away what to do.  [Had this been an 'all boys' party, all those pots would have been destroyed by now]



Eleanor, Audrey, and Olive paint away.




Hmmm.  Audrey contemplates whether 'to sparkle or not to sparkle'.  


Jessica discovered the inside of the pot needs color too.


Olive pulled me over to show me a tiny little bird she painted.  Reminded me of G-G-mah and all the great birds she paints.  




What happened to Eleanor?  She disappeared and a pink kitty showed up!


Hangin at the face paint tent.


Olives turn!


First layer is in place..


Drew poses with yet another new kitty that showed up in our backyard.    


Phoebe got a lovely butterfly.



Activity number 3:  Puppet Show!
Of course I had to get into the act, so I brought along my old furry pal Grover and we sat and chatted with the kids a bit.


Grover got the instructions screwed up and dressed as a Pirate fairy.  Once we got that sorted, he went around and got high fives from all the fairies.  Boy do they slap hard!


Grover had never been to birthday party before, so he asked everyone what they do.


The girls (and Hezzy) taught him the birthday song and 'wah-lah!' a beautiful birthday cake showed up!



Activity 4: EAT CAKE!!


Activity 5: DANCE PARTY!


Activity 6: Adorable pictures with Dad!


Activity 7:  Open Gifts!


Olive got so many dragons, princesses, dresses, books and dolls.  Having a kid reminds me why people have storage units..  So much stuff!!


Super Rebecca and Super Fairy Grandmother!


So after a few crazy rounds of hide and seek, I tried to get Audrey, Olive, Georgie and Mia to sit in one place..  


Yeah, good luck with that..


And then its was time to go, so a couple parting shots with some of my favorite people.


Where does Olive get this from..?


Oh yeah, this guy.


Doooyy!!!!



And after a couple hours of down time, we prepped the backyard for our second party of the day:  The 'boys are allowed' BBQ.  Immediately the house was filled with clomping, stomping feet.  Popping balloons, slamming doors, and that boisterous bravado. 

The loud soundtrack that only boys can provide.


Somebody please take that recorder from Jake please..?


Steaks, burgers, beers, and brats.  YUM!


Finn and the 'hostess with the mostess'!


Sun went down as the kids did 'god knows what' inside.  The parents kicked backed and had enlightened conversations about art, the state of the animation industry and of course, 'what celebrities have killed people'.


John outed himself as knowing more 'celebrities who've killed' trivia than anyone we've ever met.   He also introduced us to cute animal videos on the internet  (except the one where the Beaver killed the guy).


Frank and Caitlin dropped by and Frank waxed poetic about his wax work and where he's been burned.  

They also had their goto list of funny dog videos.  Ok I was feeling a bit insecure after that.  Rebecca and I don't have our own 'favorite animal video' list.  What have we been doing all this time..? We'll try and sort it out before our next social outing.


With no noise coming from the house, I checked on the munchkins.  Went to Olive's room and it looked like a war zone (my fraternity parties never got close to this type of thing). 


Eleanor and O.  Doing what best friends to best..  Swapping clothes and painting each others nails. 

Then they just got up and walked out without saying a word..


I followed them to what used to be known as our dining room, now home to a pillow encampment, complete with tents, stuffed animals, arm weights and a piano.


Ah of course.  This shanty town is where the fan is..


And two happy girls.


And then... it was late.  Everyone had left.


The fairies had gone.


A full moon and a silent night.


All that was left were empty bottles, burst balloons, and quiet.


Time for one artsy shot of a relish jar..


And of one very tired, and happy, five year old.



;)