First Friend Party!

Kara reached the magic age of 5, which allowed her to have her first friends party!  She invited four girls from school (Sam, Susanna, Lauren, & Maren), her friend Addison (they were at Integrity together for two years), Cole (naturally), and Danny.  We decided to have an art party and hired Abrakadoodle to handle the details, and wisely decided to hold the party at Little Lambs to save our house.  


Kara wanted a Tangled (Rapunzel) theme, and I thoroughly enjoyed planning and decorating for her party.  I thought at first I had so much fun planning because it was a girly theme, but then realized that we've never decorated for any of Cole's parties (Gymco, Chuck E. Cheese) so it was our first party to decorate for.  I found one cute idea online, and then started searching, and before I knew it I had more than enough ideas for one party.  It was a lot of work but we worked some of the decorations into her room decor, and she loved it all, so that alone made it worth while.

Can we please have a moment of silence for the golden suns?  And the lanterns?  And the braid?  And the banners?  Thank you.  : )

Dad took some nice close up pictures of the decorations, but I can't upload them since they are on Snapfish, not the computer.  

Dad and Cole hid the Pascal blowers I had made around the room, and the kids had to find them. 

The art teacher started by reading a book about royalty, castles, etc.

The first art project, which was using oil pastels and paint to make castles.

The second project was to make Princess/Prince mirrors.

To keep it real, the art portion of the party was a bust.  The teacher was quite late, didn't prepare well, and the activity was pretty advanced for the kids (I guess I was thinking more like a craft, not fine art).  Kara wasn't very interested in the activities because she wanted to open her presents and have cake.  Thankfully the company was one with integrity and stood behind their business, because after a few phone calls, we ended up getting a full refund.   

At last - time to open presents!

Kara got many lovely things and the girls were so cute as they crowded around Kara to ooh and aah over what she got.

After presents and cake, we had about 20 minutes left before parents would start arriving.  We decided to just let them play instead of trying to organize a couple of games we had planned.  Another benefit to having the party at a preschool!

Kara is playing with Lauren and Maren (twins).  Kara had not talked about them much, prior to inviting them to the party (and I was surprised she asked them).  The three of them are more quiet and reserved at school, and don't initiate conversations, play, etc.  At the party though, oh my!  All three of them were running and playing and laughing and it was wonderful to see them have so much fun together!

Planning their next escapade.

And a visit to the restaurant before it was time to leave.

All in all, Kara had a great time at her party, and so did her friends.  Parts of it were less than ideal, but it bothered the adults more than the kids.  Kara will remember a special party with her friends, and that's what matters.