Birthday Girl!

Yesterday we celebrated Maisie's 5th birthday, and Teag and I threw our very first kid party. Luckily we think it ended up being a success, with no injuries or bloodshed to report. Teag and I spent a good chunk of the afternoon preparing Maisie's special birthday cake, a sort of "Ariel from the Little Mermaid" recreation:
I have to say, I was pretty proud of how it turned out. Notice the whitecaps? The waves breaking against the rocks? Now that's imagination, baby!

We had a bunch of kids over for the party, ranging in age from 3-8. We played a lot of old school games including a cotton ball relay, dropping clothes pins from your nose into a jar, and "Pin the Crown on the Princess":

After that, we all did the Hokey Pokey. Pretty funny to watch, but not too easy to take good pictures of.

As expected, Maisie was very excited to open her presents, and I think all the rest the kids were just as anxious to watch. She ended up with a serious collection of Barbie/Princess paraphernalia, much to her delight, as well as some cool books, a scooter, coloring stuff, and a tea set.





























Maisie had a great time, and the most rewarding thing for us as parents was when we heard her say the prayer over dinner that night. She said how she was thankful for her party, and that all her friends could come over and play. No mention of presents at all. Now that's priceless.