The Birthday Party

Elora didn't wear the Jessie pants that I made for her, because the weather has been too hot for pants.  Instead, I broke out my sewing supplies the night before the party and added a cow print ruffle to an existing denim skirt.  (She did wear the pants when it got cooler in the evening, but we didn't get any pictures.)

The first part of the party was spent outside, because the day was gorgeous.  There were two other children at the party (Gracie, who is nearly two, and Sydney, nearly five) and they made good use of  the sunshine and toys while the grown-ups sat around chatting, munching, and refereeing disputes. 

You might notice that Kaylie isn't in any of these pictures; she went down for a nap shortly after the party got started, due to poor planning on my part.

  Then Elora got to open her gifts.  There were a lot of them.

 

And then Kaylie was awake and it was time for decadent, sugary overload cake.  Elora had a carrot cake covered in cow print and topped with her miniature Toy Story character figurines and three giant candles.  For Kaylie, a chocolate cupcake with a pretty pink candle. 

 

Elora, after going on and on for months about carrot cake, ate very little of her cake and all of her frosting. (The black frosting turned a few tongues black--oops!)  At first, Kaylie wanted nothing more to do with her cupcake than to squish it between her fingers, and smear it on her seat.  Then Papa managed to get a little taste of it in her mouth and suddenly those gooey, chocolatey fingers were getting stuffed in her mouth.

By the time she was done, everything within her reach needed to be cleaned: the chair, the chair cover, her bib, her dress, her head band, her hair...even Gigi's shirt.

So it wasn't until after a bath that we tackled the second mound of gifts in the living room.

Did I mention that there were a lot of gifts??  We were all rather overwhelmed.

Elora's favorite was either the Buzz Lightyear or the pretend play doctor's set, and Kaylie's was the sweet little baby doll.

Whew!  I think it's safe to say that the party was a rousing success.  Thanks to everyone who came!  A HUGE thanks to everyone who helped!  You know who you are.  :)