This girl. She's five years old.
We've spent this whirlwind of a weekend celebrating her and spoiling her, amidst gatherings of family and friends against a background of hot, windy, summer-like sunshine.
We couldn't have asked for a better weekend. Or a better daughter. I wish we could have slowed down her party, as much as I wish we could slow down these years of her childhood...
Magical girl, we all love you so...
I'll start this weekend recap on Thursday, with a celebration of our boy: his spring concert and art show at Boulevard. Our boy enjoyed showing off his art to us but the moment the second graders were called backstage, he was off like a shot. So independent. He stood up on the risers, confident, back straight as a flagpole, so very very attentive and serious about the performance. They were so adorable singing "best day of my life." He'd been so excited to perform that song. I'm just so proud of my sweet, tall, amazing boy.
Friday highlights: Hot weather, necessitating a kiddie pool and foot soaking in the backyard, Claire's arrival for the weekend, and a "just right" informal family celebration of Ivy's actual birthday...
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| hot stuff |
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| Ivy and her Pre-K boys party it down at school... |
Saturday. The day! The time on sprockets when Amanda loses her mind about the weather forecast and spends all of her energy agonizing about the chance of thunderstorms predicted for 4pm. We decided to go for it, and just put the decorations outside. And we won! The weather gods smiled on us, big warm sunshiney smiles all afternoon.
Thank you, weather gods. Because I just don't know how we would have handled this (beautiful, wonderful) crowd inside our house...
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| the mad rush to go get pizza after the group shot was dismissed. ... |
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| The "Blended beverages" were the hit of the party. Next time-- double the amount! Kids and adults alike were joyfully showing off their colorful creations. The addition of the small bar at the back of the table certainly added to the joy among the adults... |
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| Pinterest success NOT pictured here: Ice cream prescooped into cupcake papers and then re-frozen. Platter of instant happiness, ready to hand out. After the blended beverages this was the most acclaimed idea.. |
And then, we filled up the yard with 53 guests and it all got better...
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| So the little guy here is Ivy's friend Gabe from Pre-K. Gabe wants to marry Ivy. He is very devoted. You will see him in many pictures, just kind of being near Ivy. I asked him, as he sat at the face paint table, if he was getting his face painted, and he said, "No. I'm just waiting for Ivy." |
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| The hammock was a huge hit. |
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| Joe earns a medal of valor for his work at the face paint table. |
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| The "drying station" was my favorite.. |
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| See Gabe? :) |
Fairy photo booth! Because Ivy decided, after the fact, that it had to be a FAIRY painting party...
We talked a lot of guests into this...
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| The "view from above". I love looking down on my creations. You'd never know there were 53 people out there, eh? Our yard loves parties. :) |
After going to bed at 10:30 last night, I enjoyed a relaxing Mother's Day. Impeccable breakfast from Nat, sweet homemade gifts from the kids (including my first "coupons" from my son, a milestone indeed!), pretty new earrings-- and a trip to the lake for time with MY amazing mom, my sister, and ALL the dogs. Hot wind, blazing sun, a beach full of swimsuited bodies-- it felt like full summer out there. It's felt rather like vacation all weekend (with the exception of the -- completely my own fault!-- insane busyness of party planning and execution), with family visiting and gatherings of relaxed friends in our yard. Its going to be tough to go back to the real world tomorrow, that's for sure..
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| Somebody is very happy with her new "Our Generation" doll collection. How did she get so big?? |
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