Documenting Life--flashback style

Before I post about recent events, I am going to have to catch up on documenting life. We celebrated Addison's 3rd Birthday Dora Style, and I did a brief post but wanted to record my thoughts and reflections--and the details here for memory's sake.

Make a digital slideshow

We had her party the Saturday before her Tuesday Birthday. She has had a love affair with Dora since she could speak thanks to a big cousin Savannah's exposure, and I did not want her preschool years to go by without celebrating her favorite character.

We decided to have the party at my parents' house since we decided to rent a bounce house. They have a much bigger yard. I decided to go high on the entertainment this year and low on the food. Here is the rundown.

Activities:

• Making silly hats. It's from Dora's Silly Fiesta Episode. I found inspiration here and a pattern here. We used felt for the hats (Thanks for cutting them out, Heather), pipe cleaners to fasten them, and foam sticky shapes, poms, and jewels to embellish them.
• Coloring and playing in the cardboard Dora House. It is pictured in the slideshow and is similar to this. This was a gift from our neighbors--thanks Mark, Andrea, Laura, and Andrew. All of the kids loved it as an option.
• Jumping in the Dora Bounce House. We rented one from here. Kids and adults alike loved it... I might be jumping in it in some of the pictures. :) Seriously, though, my friends kept commenting on how nice it was to have the children "caged" so that ALL could enjoy the party. :)
• Dancing on the Deck--to Dora Music... and Maroon Five's "Moves Like Jaggar." Those little kiddos had some moves too.

Refreshments:

• Yummy Yummy Dora Princess and Scepter Publix Cake
• Cupcakes
• Popcorn
• Goldfish
• Juice Boxes

Decorations:

• Homemade Banners
• Martha Stewart's Tissue Paper Poms
• Martha Stewart's Tissue Paper Streamers. Inspiration for both found here.
• Things that Wren donated to me leftover from Olivia's 2nd party--table cloths, plates and napkins

Favors (depending on age and gender, some compilation of the following):

• Dora pencils
• Dora notepads
• Dora whistles (thanks, Wren :) )
• Dora bracelets
• Dora watches
• Dora fruitsnacks
• in Dora treat bags (thanks again, Wren!)

Sidenote: I never knew how much Dora was out there... Addison got 11 different Dora birthday cards, and only one repeated... Crazy!

Highlight of the whole day: the sheer excitement on Addison's face. She had a BALL!

Before I post about recent events, I am going to have to catch up on documenting life. We celebrated Addison's 3rd Birthday Dora Style, and I did a brief post but wanted to record my thoughts and reflections--and the details here for memory's sake.

Make a digital slideshow

We had her party the Saturday before her Tuesday Birthday. She has had a love affair with Dora since she could speak thanks to a big cousin Savannah's exposure, and I did not want her preschool years to go by without celebrating her favorite character.

We decided to have the party at my parents' house since we decided to rent a bounce house. They have a much bigger yard. I decided to go high on the entertainment this year and low on the food. Here is the rundown.

Activities:

• Making silly hats. It's from Dora's Silly Fiesta Episode. I found inspiration here and a pattern here. We used felt for the hats (Thanks for cutting them out, Heather), pipe cleaners to fasten them, and foam sticky shapes, poms, and jewels to embellish them.
• Coloring and playing in the cardboard Dora House. It is pictured in the slideshow and is similar to this. This was a gift from our neighbors--thanks Mark, Andrea, Laura, and Andrew. All of the kids loved it as an option.
• Jumping in the Dora Bounce House. We rented one from here. Kids and adults alike loved it... I might be jumping in it in some of the pictures. :) Seriously, though, my friends kept commenting on how nice it was to have the children "caged" so that ALL could enjoy the party. :)
• Dancing on the Deck--to Dora Music... and Maroon Five's "Moves Like Jaggar." Those little kiddos had some moves too.

Refreshments:

• Yummy Yummy Dora Princess and Scepter Publix Cake
• Cupcakes
• Popcorn
• Goldfish
• Juice Boxes

Decorations:

• Homemade Banners
• Martha Stewart's Tissue Paper Poms
• Martha Stewart's Tissue Paper Streamers. Inspiration for both found here.
• Things that Wren donated to me leftover from Olivia's 2nd party--table cloths, plates and napkins

Favors (depending on age and gender, some compilation of the following):

• Dora pencils
• Dora notepads
• Dora whistles (thanks, Wren :) )
• Dora bracelets
• Dora watches
• Dora fruitsnacks
• in Dora treat bags (thanks again, Wren!)

Sidenote: I never knew how much Dora was out there... Addison got 11 different Dora birthday cards, and only one repeated... Crazy!

Highlight of the whole day: the sheer excitement on Addison's face. She had a BALL!