A “Pink & Gold Everything” Kids Party: a house log

This weekend our deck was full of people we enjoy, gathered to celebrate this four year old bean of ours. It was fairly excellent to have so much connected outdoor space to party on (the sunroom-turned-veranda and our big deck that overlooks the grassy backyard felt less chopped up than having some people in the last house’s sunroom while others were on our two-tiered patio). And since our previous house is where we have hosted every other Clara-birthday since she was born (here is the post about her first birthday, the one about her second one, and the one about her third) it felt both weird and wonderful to have our first big birthday gathering here. Most importantly, this girl had a blast.

We typically do a little party prep post before the big “after the event” rundown (like this one, this one, and this one) which is where we share details like her invitation, but this time we figured we’d toss everything into this full-monty post and call it good. This is the invitation that we sent out to friends and relatives after Clara chose she hoped her party to be “all full of pink and gold everything… with glitter.”

But the theme was not “pink and gold with glitter” for long – it kept evolving. The description swiftly morphed to include nearly everything in her world. Soon Clara was calling it a “pink and gold flamingo, fairy, princess, lego, glitter, flower, cupcake, pez, castle, polka dot, treasure, bubble, water party” – which we shortened to her “pink and gold everything party” since it included everything but the kitchen sink.

It was lively to embrace all the things she loves. We pulled out existing items that fit the theme (like old paper lanterns and floral tablecloths from parties past) as well as grabbing some lively new items that tied in (like a few dollar store flamingos, some gold tinsel to make a glittery table runner, and some polka dotted balloons from Target).

For brought in seating in our not-truly-furnished-yet former sunroom, we brought out an old pedestal table and our wicker dining chairs (they are in fact outdoor chairs, so they worked truly well) as well as breaking out some lively stuff for the kids like our water table (and the one we borrowed from Grammy and Tom-Tom) as well as a bunch of toys, bubbles, and even the sprinkler for down on the grass.

We are so grateful for the weather. It was sunny and warm sufficient for the kids to play with water in the sun, but pleasant and cool in the shade (we did not even turn on the fans!).

We kept the food casual as usual, with some pink and gold go-tos like watermelon, chicken nuggets, sliced peppers, caramel corn, chips & salsa, as well as a few pizzas since they are consistently a crowd pleaser.

We even worked in some grocery store blooms and a few gold mason jars (from JoAnn) full of pink & gold twizzlers.

These little flamingo glasses were dollar store finds, and the chocolate coins and pink jelly beans were fairly much gone before the pizza was even touched.

We also grabbed five flamingo stick-balloons at the dollar store (who knew they were such a treasure trove of flamingo memorabilia?) that we stuck into the potted ferns around the deck. Kids enjoyed them so much they asked to take them home at the end of the party.

Easily the most exciting thing were the cupcakes, which were made by our sweet friend Justine. After we had Teddy she asked if she could bring us a meal and we kept saying “you are too kind, but we are all set – seriously our freezer is full” which somehow turned into her offering to make cupcakes for the party (she loves to bake, and her stuff is so delicious we could not resist). She fully embraced the pink-and-gold-fairy-princess-lego-castle-glitter-etc theme and made adorable toppers for each cupcake, including a few “fairy Clara” toppers with her face on a glittery winged body along with everything from a lego head to a pink glittered castle. There was an audible “oooh!” when we brought them all out.

Here is one of “Queen Clara” wearing a big dress (girl loves a big dress, especially of the pink and gold variety). Justine seriously went above and beyond.

Later when we asked Clara to name her five go-to parts of the party, the quite first thing she said was “MY CUPCAKES!” (which oddly sufficient was followed by “when Sam hit me in the face with the beach ball”).

Everyone hung out on the deck and ate and played with the water tables for the first half of the party (there were around a dozen kids and twenty adults) and then some of the kids began funneling down to the grass to play with things like the sprinkler and the bubbles.

First we set up a little bubble blower…

… and then John broke out the giant bubble maker, which had everyone in awe of his skills. Until several kids made bigger bubbles than this on the first try.

The sprinkler was especially funny to watch since it was a bunch of kids standing around filling various cups and containers with water.

The water tables were also fairly constantly in use, so it was pleasant to have a few “stations” for kid activities while the adults chatted nearby without anyone being out of eyeshot.

Teddy did not get in on the water table, bubble, or sprinkler action, but he did woo his fair share of party-goers. Here is John’s mom in her flamingo headband. Gotta enjoy a lady who commits to a party wholeheartedly.

We kept the favors fairly plain too. Since one of the things in Clara’s longest-party-name-ever was “Pez” I found some dispensers at the dollar store for these pink & gold containers (30 cents each from Target) and tossed in a few other treats.

We also picked up this pinata from Target but nearly forgot to break it out. Some folks had already left when we ran in and got it, but the lingering crew had a ton of lively with it. Check out Louie with his gold chain and sunglasses on the right. Dude had moves.

It took about 100 swings, but it at last exploded and the kids scrambled to grab as much as they could.

As is the tradition, we also took a family photo, which is a fairly rare event for us (one of us is consistently holding the camera). In this case it ended up being even more momentous than usual since it is the first photo of all four of us. Only took us a month…

Can we simply pause for a second to soak up little Teddy. He’s so sweet I could eat him. But I will not. And do not even get me began on that little lady in John’s arms. When did she get so big? I tell her she’s not allowed to grow anymore but she simply does not listen.

Did you folks have any gatherings this weekend? Have you ever thrown a bunch of parties at one house over the years and then moved and marveled/feared making a new place work? I have said it before and I will say it again: a house never feels homier than it does when it is full of the people you enjoy. In some ways even though we have nearly lived here a year (how did that happen?!) this house did not fully feel “broken in” until Saturday. Simply looking around seeing everyone out on the deck and our kids running around in the grass… well, it was fairly strong. Even if there were giant piles of laundry lurking inside.