Ashley had a birthday! I can hardly believe my sweet baby girl is 6 years old. It is a blur. Her Birthday was on a Sunday this year, so we had the party Friday afternoon, Backyard Movie Night Friday night, a little more fun Saturday and Family over at our house on Sunday.
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I look forward to her decision for a birthday party theme every year. This year she chose Horses and a cowgirl and cowboy party. Here are the invitations. They were easy to make and turned out really cute.
The back also had an invite for her Backyard Movie Night that same night.
The party was Friday afternoon from 2 to 4. About 5 of her favorite friends ended up not being able to make it but, she's always a good sport and didn't mind. She ended up with a total of 15 guests plus herself and 7 cousins, so 23 kids in all which was a smaller party than usual and seemed so calm and easy from start to finish.
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We started with some warm-up games that Ashley had chosen while we waited for guests to arrive. First was Horse, Horse, Pony. It's fun to be the birthday girl since so many people want to chose you and you get excessive turns. They also played Pony Tag, which was just tag.
Then the Pony came! Her name is Annie and she's so cute and soft. I was a little worried when she was a few minutes late. Dave was on Pony Duty. He walked kids around and around and around.
Then we split up into 4 groups and rotated through the 4 stations. I stayed with Ashley's group (so most of my pictures are just her group), Nana led a group, Andrew led and group and Lizzie led the the mainly cousin group. Our first stop was the station run by Joe Joe. The kids played a game of toss-the-hula-hoop-on- the-horse game and a Relay Race with a Stick Horse. Joe did a great job.
Andrew Man on the Horse
Then our group went to the Pony Station. Dave took each kid for a ride around and those who were waiting their turn either played bean bag toss, played with Lincoln Logs or some groups just wanted to follow the pony walking. They all LOVED the pony.
Next was the Craft Station run by Callie. They used pre-cut pieces to make a horse face on a brown paper sack that they would later use to collect pinata candy. Callie did a great job.
Then this group went to the station run by Kim. They bobbed for apples and carrots, which I thought was more like a back up game but ended up being a favorite. They did pin the tail on the Horse which Ashley colored and made. And they did a race balancing a sugar cube on a spoon.
When all 4 groups had finished up visiting each station then I had them play a few group games and anyone who wanted could take extra pony rides. It worked out really well. First we played a pass the cowboy hat game with music, kind-of the opposite of musical chairs.
Then a horse race game that was silly and fun.
Then the Pinata. Kids love pinatas but, I think the 6th bday party is the last year they can work. After that the kids can hit it too quickly and they aren't satisfied with 3 candies per person anymore.
After everyone had a turn we let Ashley break it open without a blindfold.
By then we were running out of time. Here is my sad little cake. It was supposed to look like grass and a fence. Ashley didn't like the horse I'd chosen to put on top so she grabbed it off but, when she did that it put a big crack through the whole top of the cake. Oh well, it tasted delicious and no one seemed to mind one bit. And since I hadn't put much time into it I didn't mind either.
Happy Birthday Sweet Ashley! We served cake, cupcakes, ice cream and rootbeer floats.
She opened presents and got a few that became immediate favorites! Liam gave her a stuffed dalmatian dog that no other gift could compete with.
Beautiful Cousins
The party ended, the guests went home and Ashley got to have the Pony all to herself for another 30 minutes or so!
So, she took him out on her own for a bit, of course.
She said it was her best party ever. That night we had a Backyard Movie night with another great big crowd of friends and neighbors. She chose to show Frozen. We had to wait for the sun to go down, which takes a long time on the night before Summer Solstice. By the time it ended my kids were in bed and asleep in no time.
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The next day was Saturday. Ashley had gymnastics, then Andrew had baseball practice. After that we swam at our neighbors pool,
(We were in the middle of babysitting our neighbors dog for an entire week and so we had access to their swimming pool all the time. We went swimming almost everyday, and sometimes twice a day. Having a dog in the house all week was another of Ashley's favorite things about her birthday).
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Our traditional picture wall for the birthday girl!
Ashley's birthday is June 22nd, a Sunday this year. She liked being sung to in primary, she got to pick an afternoon movie at home and then we had dinner at our house to celebrate one more time. She chose spaghetti so we had BBQ chicken, spaghetti and lots of yummy sides. Nana brought a great cake and she got to blow out candles again.
The cousins so far
Opening presents
Nana hit a home run with a Lego Friends horse and barn set
Can't go wrong with a stuffed dog, she loves them all.
We gave her a Lego Friends Beach set, a bike bell, helmet and streamers and 2 stuffed dogs. Andrew gave her gold nail polish, Hailey gave her a Hello Kitty Candy and Kate gave her crayons. She is easy to please and loved it all.
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Happy Birthday Ashley. We love you more than we can ever say. You are a burst of sunshine and bring so much energy, sweetness, sassiness and love to our family. You are creative, adventurous, talented, fast, silly, clever, happy, friendly, lovable, and fun. We are endlessly proud of your accomplishments and how much you are learning. You are caring and kind, an amazing big sister and a daddy's girl. You work hard to please and do your best. You love to care for Katie and are her little mama. You love playtime with Andrew and Hailey too, though you each fight a lot also. You also like alone time for playing too. You don't like princesses but, do like painted nails and long hair. You love animals of all kinds and are very good with them. When you grow up you want to be a Vet, Dog Walker, Cooker with your own restaurant, Fire Fighter with a Dalmation, and an Artist. You fall asleep the fastest in our family, come cuddle in our bed most nights and are usually awake and playing or coloring first too. You love to go, go, go and want to be part of the action or excitement. You love gymnastics, are a beautiful dancer, and an excellent swimmer. You love to play soccer and baseball too and are a very fast runner. You have great handwriting and love art. You love to spell your name Ashleeeeeee. Your favorite color this week is red. You love fruit most and don't like meat. You are easy to love. Your true smile is beautiful, your laugh is contagious and your hugs are tight and sweet. We love you through and through sweet Ashley bear.
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