5th Birthday Party

On Saturday, Leah had her very first birthday party with friends. She was soooo excited all week long; on Saturday morning, she kept asking, "Are my friends driving yet? What time is it?"

Months ago, she chose a Mickey & Minnie Mouse party theme for her 5th birthday. I found and ordered the custom-made dress Leah is wearing in the photo, which we gave her on Saturday morning. Last summer, Leah had a red and white polka-dotted dress that she referred to as her "Minnie dress". Suspecting that it probably wouldn't fit this year, and knowing how much she loved it, I couldn't resist ordering a new Minnie-inspired dress not only for the party, but for the rest of the season. A friend of mine makes hair bows, so I also ordered some Minnie sequin clips to match!

Leah & I had a lot of fun with the Mickey & Minnie theme. We were thrilled to find red & white polka-dotted streamers at Hobby Lobby and we spent probably a good hour or more in Party City gathering items for goody bags, a pinata, Mickey Mouse party hats, and other coordinating party supplies. We also displayed her plush Mickey & Minnie as well as a matching cookie jar I've had for years.

A total of 10 children, including Leah, attended the party. We invited a couple homeschooling families that we've become friends with over the past year as well as a couple girls she met through dance class. Everyone seemed to play really well together and enjoyed a good time! Even Dodge made us proud and behaved very well around all the kids. He especially loved the one-year-old brother of one of Leah's friends, whom he "kissed" many times. ;)

During the party, each child colored a bow for Minnie, which we later used in a blindfolded "Stick the Bow on Minnie" game. Shortly thereafter, we handed out cupcakes - Minnie was the hands-down favorite among the mostly female crowd!

Then, we rounded up the kids to take a whack at the unicorn pinata. Yes, despite the Micky & Minnie theme, Leah was adamant about a unicorn pinata. Haha. We lined the kids up by height, allowing the youngest to go first, figuring the older ones would be able to take down the pinata. The unicorn was successfully beheaded by Averlin, age 6! The unicorn itself didn't break open so I ripped it and showered the candy on the ground for the kids to collect. Great fun!

All in all, the party was a success! We are grateful that we've met some awesome families with such sweet kids over the past year. Leah truly loved that everyone came to celebrate with her.