I talked to Peg Peg last night, and told her all the stories I've yet to post on the blog, and she said, "Don't worry about all that - just get to the birthday. So, per her request, I'm skipping the past few weeks and cutting straight to the good stuff. I'll recap the past two weeks later.
Dear Laney,
You turned four yesterday. Because Grandpops and Grandma CC are visiting from Missouri, and Hagen's been having trouble sleeping, our family's been playing musical beds for the past week. The night before your birthday, our bed roulette landed you in the big bed with me. You woke up yesterday morning, blinked your eyes, and asked me, "Is it my birthday today?" "Yes, Laney. Today, you are four." You gasped in delight and then whispered, "When can we have cake?"
Dad and I unveiled our present first thing in the morning: a new pod swing to hang under your treehouse.
For a year or so, you'd been saying you wanted a princess tea party. Sometime last month, that idea got upgraded to Fairy Princess Tea Party.
We've been so busy lately that I didn't have the time to over-produce this party like I did last year's Pirate Party. But because we had three grandparents on hand, we were able to slap together a pretty great fairy bash.
We had a tea party table with a canopy and cushions and tissue paper flowers. Your dad and grandpops had built a treehouse in the backyard, and we used it to support a "secret" fairy tunnel. Your dad's original idea was to mount a zip line from the TOP of the treehouse to the telephone pole at the opposite edge of our property, but since I don't like to greet guests to our home with a liability release, that idea was nixed.
And of course, there was a fairy dress-up station.
Grandma Sue made pimento cheese and turkey finger sandwiches and cut them out with butterfly and heart-shaped cookie cutters. Grandma CC made chicken salad that we stuffed into crescent rolls, and I hollowed out watermelons and filled them with fruit salad. There was pink lemonade and iced tea for the kids, and a bucket of cocktails and beer growlers for the adults. Grandpops grilled cheeseburger sliders.
All of the kids seemed to have a great time, There wasn't a single tantrum or shed tear.
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| One, two... |
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| Three! |
We had ice cream cupcakes, which were a hit.
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| You don't get your hands messy if you don't touch it. |
Hagen had his own, but we soon noticed that anyone who left her cupcake unattended was subject to a missing dessert:
This was the first birthday that you've had presents from your friends to open. In previous years, I'd begged other parents not to bring gifts. You just had so much stuff already, and I didn't want you to think that birthdays are about stuff - I wanted you to look forward to birthdays as a time to have fun with your friends. But this year I gave up the fight and kept my mouth shut, except to have a talk with you before the party about how presents are a way that people show you that they care, so even if you open a gift and you don't like it, you need to say thank you, because you're thanking them for caring enough to want to do something nice for you. Then I crossed my fingers and prayed that you wouldn't tear open one gift after another while shouting, "BORING!" "Boring" is a word I wish I could erase from your vocabulary, especially since you don't really understand what it means but are happy to shout it at random.
I also worried that present time would be awkward, because what kid wants to watch another kid open presents? I guess I underestimated your friends, because your super-sweet new pal Emmy came up to me halfway through the party and whispered, "When is she going to open presents?" Apparently, other kids DO enjoy watching the birthday kid open her gifts.
Basically, I needn't have worried about the whole present thing, because watching you open them surrounded by your friends was one of the cutest things ever. The best part was that each girl had made you a homemade card or colored you a picture or written you a note, and wanted to sit down with you when it was her turn to "read" you what she'd written or tell you why she'd colored you that particular picture.
When you finally came down off your sugar high and we were getting ready for bed, I asked you what your favorite part of your birthday party was, and then tensed myself for your response. You thought about it a second, and then decided: "My friends all playing at my house." I agreed with Grandpops when he said: "Best answer ever."
Happy birthday, big girl.
Love,
Mom
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