Cruising in her Barbie Jeep!
Chilling out in the play room.
Taking a break in her play house
And hanging by the play 'kitchen'. She is such a big girl now.
So I had a Dora Party for Princess. Seems like Dora is a VERY popular party theme for 3 year olds. Who would have thunk it! Princess is enamored with Dora, so it was a no -brain-er really as to what kind of party I would throw for her.
I wanted to set the tone just right, so of course I made Dora invitations with Princess's picture on them. Everyone knows an invitation can set the entire tone of a party and I wanted people to know this would be a Dora adventure so come prepared. Of course it's me so everything had to be 'just so'. I had spent my entire motherhood planning what I deem to be spectacular parties, but I always had to compromise on something, somewhere. I didn't want to this year so I did most of the decorations myself, the set up and the planning. I needed to get this party right, since I was doing it on a much smaller scale than previous parties.
I also knew it would rain so I hoped it wouldn't dampen the festivities.
I had about 17 kids, plus my three, so 20 in total. Then I had 21 adults, plus me and Hubby. So a total of around 43 people... not bad for a rainy B-day party. And as I was told, a pretty BIG party.
So it rained... but luckily before all my guests arrived
And it rained some more. But by the time everyone got to the party, it had stopped. Thank heavens.
I made a ton of food.... Arroz con Pollo (rice with chicken), tuna rice casserole bake, tuna pasta salad, Rotini in ground beef mushroom tomato sauce, mini fish pancake fitters and cupcakes. Mil made her 'famous' salad. And yes I had a little of everything, including cake. Oh and there was Cantonese rice and pudding and coffee.
I set up crackers and cream cheese, 2 kinds of chips, cookies, pretzels, Funyuns and plantain chips mix, banana bread I made and fruit salad.
The cake... store bought. I had grand plans to bake the cake but I just didn't have the time. Plus I settled on the fact that I baked cupcakes... and I had baked Princess a cake for her actual birthday so I was satisfied with that.
I knew what I wanted the cake to look like and I wouldn't settle on just any old round or square sheet cake. It had to have a 'wow' factor, which is what I was going for AND 2 tiers. Store bought or not, I was going to make the cake that was ideal for a 3 year old's Dora party (and the cake of my dreams). So I got 2 round cakes of different sizes, white chocolate and dark chocolate. Froze them, put them on my cake platter and "decked" it up. I added the stars I'd made and marshmallows, to fill in gaps and "prettify" the cake some more. Then I went ahead and decorated the cake table. It came out perfect, if I do say so myself.
The Dora head I made on the wall behind the cake. Surprisingly Dora is one simple character to draw. Took me all of 5 minutes.
The birthday Princess
The decorations
Rainbow Forest/Bosque de Arco Iris
The decorations were carefully planned out as I knew what I was going for (of course).
This idea I got off the Internet. How cool is this, using photos of the birthday girl as decorations.
Windy Valley... with streamers actually blowing in the wind. LOL.
The coloring station
We did a game using the famous Dora map (I got the map off the Internet and printed it up). Swiper swiped the pinata (gasp) so the kids had to use their map to go through The Windy Valley, The Rainbow Forest/Bosque de Arco Iris and across Crocodile lake to find it. In order to cross the lake though, the kids first had to go on a scavenger hunt to find Swiper and little cut out foot prints of Princess's feet.
Swiper, you sly fox
Explaining the 'expedition' to the kids.
They were pretty excited.
"Swiper no swiping"... too late!
Searching for Swiper.
Kids had a blast. Especially using the special binoculars to try and find Swiper.
What do you see.... is Swiper over that a way?
Hurry up...
Yes, Swiper was hiding in the 'forest'.
There you are Swiper. "Aw man!"
Now we can cross Crocodile Lake.
Careful, those crocs do bite. LOL.
Now we've made it to the Rainbow Forest/Bosque de Arco Iris and it's time to Pin the Back pack on Dora.
Pinning backpack on Dora. You know she needs that backpack as Dora goes nowhere without it.
Now it's time to color some Dora and Boots coloring pages... hurry, we still have to find that Pinata for Princess.
Princess's Dora picture.
After a a fun time coloring, it was off to the Gold Tunnel/Tunel de Oro to retrieve the pinata Swiper had swiped.
Gold Tunnel/Tunel de Oro
YAY! We found the pinata.
Ok, now for some fun games.
Time for Pass the backpack.
Sack racing time!
Yes, even Princess wants to race. And she does not want any help thank you very much. She want to do it herself.
And she does!!!
Pinata Time!!!
Cake Time!
Happy Birthday To You!
Time for presents...
A Dora hamper... way cool!
It's a puppet! Time for some puppet shows.
Decorative hair clips. Perfect for 4th of July (or anytime really).
Loving this outfit.
And this one too.
And this dress is so cuuuuuuuute!
And of course Princess was in love with her new baby doll... she would not put it down for the rest of the evening. Even slept with it that night and took a bath with it the very next day.
The Princess card I picked out for Boobie and Fatty to give their sister.
And a lunch box, stocked with goodies.
It was a GREAT fiesta. Almost perfect, if not for the little rain. Everyone had fun. And I felt it went well. I had blast planning it and executing it. I didn't do EVERYTHING i set out to do, but I was better off for it and it turned out to be a better party despite it. I'm already dreaming up ideas for next year. You know me. In my head, I am always planning something.
2 comments:
Thank you for the post--Princess is adorable! The party looks like it was a success. Great setting! Was it held in your carport?
Yup... well mine and my mother in laws. Open car ports make for great party spaces. LOL.
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