THE Party

A few weeks ago, on a lovely afternoon spent with the in-laws, two very important things were decided. 1) The new village in Daybreak is not nearly as charming as the first two, but that everybody needs to move here (the house across the street from me is for sale- come be my neighbor!). And, 2) There ought to be some sort of large celebration when Tyler's siblings come to town.
Hrmmm. Let me think on that one.. Celebration=party. Party=Andrea's favorite thing
ever. Andrea's favorite thing to do+5 birthdays within a month+a mother-in-law kind enough to turn over control and let me go crazy= Bliss! I think I needed something like this to get me out of my funk and back into my groove. (Beware the groove!)
So, once I got done with my niece Chloe's 5th birthday paper doll party (see Becca's blog, since I forgot my camera), it was full steam ahead on THE Party planning-as opposed to 'the party'. A much needed distinction when you are planning more than one party at a time.
I had a pretty good idea of what I was going for with THE Party, so I was able to start making things early-ish. I made pinwheels and sprouted wheatgrass for centerpieces and decor. I made my first cake balls (inspired by Bakerella's cupcake pops), made paper umbrellas (which I totally forgot to take and can't seem to find anywhere?!?!) with Becca and Steve's help, and did all sorts of other crazy things..
I think my in-laws thought I was totally crazy when we started bringing things inside, but I hope that they still like me enough to not have me committed...

I had to borrow my mom's car to transport everything to the party. Hazel, Chloe and Calvin were pretty impressed...

The party favors, all lined up in a row. The containers were filled with chocolate raisins to anchor the cake balls.

The dining room set up, with favors and wheatgrass and pinwheels, oh my!

One of the birthday cakes- I don't know if this was the lemon or the chocolate, but it doesn't really matter... They both looked pretty cute, I thought. Tyler was a saint and baked and rolled fondant like a champ.

Pinwheels!

The lemonade bar. Lavender, mango, plain, mint and blueberry.

Mango lemonade. Very tasty stuff.

Mint lemonade. Also very tasty stuff.

Uncle David playing the clothespin drop game. By the end of the night Megan, Tyler and I were all tied for the high score- 7 out of 10 clothespins.

Ian attacking the pinata.

Randy wearing the pinata.

I love Bingo. I love it WAY more than I ought to.

And so, THE Party was a success. I had so much fun putting everything together and it seemed like people were enjoying themselves. Thanks, Barbara, for letting me do this one! Happy birthday to all of us!

I'll leave you with just one last picture. This is Scotty, rockin' it mandolin style...