It Was a Story Book Kind of Day

Alternate Title: This post would be much shorter if I knew how to make those blog collages I am always seeing on better blogs.

Alternate Alternate Title: A lot of pictures.

The birthday girl was very excited about her party. She woke up bright and early and came in our room to announce that it was her birthday! Of course, we already knew that since we were there when she was born. I even have a scar to prove it. But we let her have her moment and played along.

Her birthday party, a story book theme, was at 10am so we had to get up and out pretty early to get it all set up. I had done a lot of pre-work but it is just never enough somehow so Matt and I had a late night getting everything organized and loaded in the car. It always happens like that.

Since we had her party at an unusual location for kids parties, I made a few signs to give people directions to the party room. I wanted to set the tone so I used book covers and changed the titles to welcome everyone. (click on the pictures to enlarge if you'd like details)

This was the sign off the elevator.

Then another sign down the hall...

And finally Grover greeting everyone as they came in the party.

The banner was made with book covers in between each word.
The favors had book characters thanking everyone for coming. Inside Avery gave book plates (the stickers that go in books that say "this book belongs to"), some sidewalk chalk, and some letter flash cards.
Avery handed out hats to the kids as they came in. She was cute trying to match their dresses or outfits with the hat.
All the food was based on children's books with food in the title. We love having cupcakes at parties because they are less messy so it was perfect that Laura Numeroff wrote If You Give a Cat a Cupcake.

We also had sandwiches. (The Giant Jam Sandwich)

And fruit. (The Very Hungry Caterpillar)

And lastly, chips and salsa (Chicks and Salsa)

We also had colorful fruit drinks and water. Man, it has been a HOT summer. We needed plenty to drink even though we were mostly inside.

During the party, we had a story teller come and read "The Monster At The End Of This Book" and "Mr. Brown Can Moo Can You?" to all the kids.
My friend Matt stepped in and agreed to come be our story teller after my friend Blake flaked due to bad personal scheduling practices. Someone get that boy a calendar.
The kids really liked listening to Matt read to them. He got them all involved and most of them paid close attention to the stories. (Thanks to Lauren for providing the floor mats!)
It was a great effort considering most of the kids there were 2 or 3. After the books we had a craft table set up for all the kids to make bookmarks. This was the part of the party that I took the most heat for. My mom just couldn't imagine that would be any fun for kids. And Josh would not stop harping on it. But it turns out that everyone really enjoyed this part of the party.

Natalie and Emma were great helpers!

Avery had a great time making her bookmark. I included this picture as a "told you so" to those who said this would be lame. What is that saying about a picture being worth a thousand words?

Next we played "Pin the Hair on Thing 1 and Thing 2" which is a homemade game we made. I have the super glue on my fingers to prove it. We also had a Curious George version so that there wasn't a long line at either game. You know, since 3 year olds aren't known for their patience.
I thought the kids were great sports, especially since most weren't used to being blindfolded.

Finally it was time for some cupcakes!!

mmm. Icing is my favorite, too!

No face smashing this year. I guess 3 year olds are much better at eating cupcakes than 2 year olds. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss that 2 year old birthday girl smashing her face in her cupcake.

It was cute to watch all the kids eat their cupcakes.

After that we tried to get Avery to pose with all her friends. That was impossible. So here are some of our attempts.
Avery with Olivia and their Godfather, Josh. He brought gifts even though we asked on the invitation that everyone bring a book to donate to SafePlace rather than gifts for Avery. Josh is above the law, obviously. Also, he is in a tie because he came straight from work and then went right back after the party. Now THAT is love.

After about 90 minutes the party was over and Grover made sure to say bye as everyone left.
The Monster at the end of Avery's party turned out to be Grover. I am so glad that Avery wasn't the monster at the end of her party. She napped like a champ for the rest of the afternoon.
And now we have a 3 year old! Kind of hard to believe how fast that happened. (picture from Bright Eyes Photography wearing the tutu from Shimmer Sisters)
After nap it was time to celebrate Poppa's birthday. So wonderful that they share a special day together. Happy Birthday to 2 of my favorite people in the world!