Monday, November 05, 2007

Welcome to Ponyville!

We finally had Claire's party this past weekend at our neighborhood park. Thankfully, the weather held out. I got there a little early to stake out the spot and decorate a little.

She had a blast! It was a great turnout, only a few kids who got sick at the last minute. I had way too much food though! I found out a few days before that my friend's husband does balloon animals, so he ended up coming and making some balloon flowers and swords (which were the biggest hit). The kids played for a while on the playground, then munched on food.

I cut out cute sandwiches with cookie cutters in the shapes of stars, flowers and hearts. They were pb&j and turkey and cheese, pirate's booty (at Claire's request), sweet snack mix I made and haystacks (chocolate, butterscotch, chow mein noodles); for adults I had spiral sandwiches which I found at Sam's, bagels and flavored cream cheese, cheese & salami tray with crackers, hummus (which no one touched) with pita chips and crackers. After eating, I planned pony races for the kids. I found 2 stick ponies at TRU on sale and had the kids race around 'barrels', jump over 'water' and cross a finish line where they were given ribbons with a medal. After that, they played 'pony, pony, horse' which is just like duck, duck, goose. After everyone had a chance to play, it was cake time. After cake, the kids played on the playground again and some colored some My little pony coloring sheets I brought, then we had Claire open her gifts. She was so excited about EVERYTHING she opened, even the panties she got from Grandma and Grandpa!

For the goody bags, I found horse puzzles at the $ store, crazy straws, play doh from halloween, snack bags of oreo, teddy grahams and goldfish, my little pony stickers from the $ store. I got different things for siblings, infants and older kids. It was great having it at the park, but just as much work as having it at home just because you have to plan everything out and transport everything. The park is around the corner from our house though and it gives space for the kids to run around.