As a part of organizing my family photos, I am throwing it back to 2009 to chronicle N's Pinkalicious 4th birthday. You may recall that the previous year she had a Fancy Nancy Soiree and that her sister had just had an Eric Carle fest. I guess we were feeling literary those years! Here she is decked out for the party in Pinkalicious PJ's. At the time they were so big they'd never fit, but they were eventually worn by both girls and have long since been retired.
The then-four-year-old had several requests. First she wanted a small party and requested that the there be only 10 kids. In the preschool days we still asked the whole class and all my friends' kids. It was tough, but we cut the numbers by throwing our first girls only affair. She also wanted a pajama party. In a traditional sense, that was not going to happen because the girls were just too young. We settled on a sleep-under (you do everything you would at a sleep-over but you are home for bedtime). Of course, she wanted the Pinkalicious theme and her final request was that there be a popcorn bar. Our family's favorite treat for a few years was an over-priced popcorn store where you mix in your favorite toppings (like Cold Stone but for popcorn). We called the small party for pizza, popcorn, pajamas and Pinkalicious (we were literary and alliterative)!
As I mention in my 2009 Fancy Nancy Throwback, I used a "formula" for my kids parties for many years. If you went to my kids' parties, you could always expect a craft as guests gathered, an activity to bring the group together, and a game to keep the momentum up after the meal. It was always matching the theme of the party and always with cute signage, needless to say! Here the guests were greeted by a sign, presented with a pink lay, and helped themselves to the popcorn bar (not pictured :(). They also had Pinkalicious coloring pages to keep them engaged while other guests arrived.
When all the friends arrived, we proceeded to the dining room for dinner. Each girl found a personalized pink goody bag that doubled as her place-card. I loved these little sucker topiaries and made them again several times over the years. In addition to pizza, we offered pink lemonade and water and some fruits and veggies.
After dinner we went up to the landing, where Granddaddy read the first Pinkalicious book and our trusty babysitter Susie led the girls in a fun sing-along game. Each girl pulled a song title out of an envelope and was responsible for singing--so simple but they loved it! The last song was Happy Birthday and we headed back down for cupcakes. If you are not familiar with the books, these cupcakes were made to replicate the cupcakes which are a pivotal part of the plot. The baker hit them out of the park!
It was such a sweet and simple soiree!
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