Wednesday, May 9, 2012

It's about time to plan for another party!

I have always been one to plan early for my DD's birthday parties.  We are one of those parents who indulge our daughter with whatever party she wants.  For her first birthday, we decided to keep a jungle theme.  She was too young then to know any better, I should have known that babies have no clue about birthdays until you start on giving them one.  We were told not to make a fuss over the first birthday because they don't really remember it.  I could not help it, we were new parents who were eager to celebrate our little girl turning one.
Proud parents
with our closest friends
Mads was one of those kids who talked early. Before she even turned two, she can already communicate to me that she wanted to have a princess party.  So I go crazy trying to look for a venue where it would work great for the theme she wanted.  I remembered she loved My Little Pony as well, I was about to rent ponies out for children to ride on but it seemed too much work for parents with two year olds to worry about.  So I settled on renting a party venue with a carousel to have her princess/pony party.  The carousel was located at the Santa Monica Pier.  It was a lot of work to bring everything to this location! We ended up renting a U-haul! In the end, it was well worth it.

A fancy cake for the birthday princess
Balloon centerpieces were done by yours truly...took some time but it looked great
I had a princess come over to make balloons and do face painting

For her third birthday, I was well deep into nursing school, I really just wanted to make it simple but once again, my daughter knew exactly what she wanted, thank goodness, my mother in law was around to help me with the food preparation.  This time, we decided to have a Tinkerbell party.

Getting ready to blow cake
Here she is wishing for a doll house
 

Then she turned four.  This time she's into Little Mermaid.  I thought what perfect way to have a sea adventure party but to head out to the aquarium by the beach.  We rented out the Redondo Beach Sea Lab aquarium.  We are not running out of themes here. She already told me on the day of her 4th birthday that she wanted a Rapunzel party when she turns 5. Heavens!

Princess Ariel has to show up of course
And proud mommy has to be ready to oversee everything

And everyone at the party gets to touch the sea creatures
No fancy balloons this time since its an eco friendly venue that adopted sea creatures but I still got a kick of the decor
  Madison tells me that her 4th birthday was the best one ever.  She tells me this every time after every party. So now...I have to up the ante.  I have less than two months to go.  Looking for a castle with a tower.  Or maybe the forest.  I am so full of ideas.  We shall see what I can come up with.  I love party planning.  My hubby gets wary of the expense because each time I blow off my budget.  I always remind him, she's only this age once! And he says, so is everyone else.  Let's see how it goes with another baby on the way, that will be another party to plan for! Oh my.

4 comments:

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  3. I just thought about that suddenly, yay Mads will be 5 on the 4th of July! How time flies. She's a princess and all her parties were great. Lucky you, you've got a fantastic weather and much more, hers is on a summer. My Little Girl on the other hand is on a very wintry February. madison's cakes as well are so beautiful. How I wish we have more selections here. Just think of it, a madeira personalized cake here (with just the name on it and not necessarily the theme to go with) good for 12 persons would cost about £50.
    In the UK we don't have much options. Either you do it in the house or you go to play centers. Little Girl's 2 parties so far were in the house and how I love to be able to open the garden and rent some bouncy castle but unfortunately, it's freezing cold outside so that would definitely be unlikely to happen. She had a princess theme on the 1st and Winnie the Pooh on the second. I bought most of the stuff (from coordinated paper plates, banners, cups, napkins, party bags, invitation cards and thank you cards) from the Philippines as there were more selection there than back here. We almost had her 2nd party at a play center , booked it, paid it and cancelled afterwards because it was so limited. Just 2 hours and food/goodies for the children. And I cannot bring anything. May be we'll have the In the Night Garden theme next year if she is still into it.
    I can totally relate where you are coming from in terms of the excitement we get over party preparations. I believe new parents tend to be like that. And who can blame, turning a year old is a big life event of any child any new parent would look so forward to.
    Best of luck on your party planning and I'm sure it will make Mads a very happy birthday girl.

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  4. They said that the 5th birthday is a real milestone. Not only is your child becoming a school kid, their 5th birthday is probably the first party they will truly remember. These reasons alone are enough to go all out and celebrate with a big bang!

    Maddy is a smart kid and I admire her because she knows exactly what she wants...
    Just thinking of the party..makes me really excited!
    Looking forward and wishful thinking that we can celebrate with you...

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