The Big Bash!

Genna had her party Saturday afternoon and it was great! Unlike last year when we just had three families come, this year almost everyone came! The girls just HAD to invite this kid and that from German Kindergarten so the numbers got a little higher than I usually opt for. But we had a nice mix of Germans and Americans. The theme this year: Genevieve and the 12 Dancing Princesses!

The invitation (contact info censored)

And now for my favorite part, the cake! Isaac helped me make the cake batter but those pictures are for another post. Genna requested, as I was decorating the cake that I write Happy Birthday Genevieve on it, so I reluctantly did it. I have horrid handwriting with a pen and with a cake tip it doesn't get any better. I was afraid to ruin it so I did it in the same color so that it blended into the skirt design a bit. We have to honor that birthday girl's wishes, right? So without further ado, here is my Princess Genevieve from the 12 Dancing Princesses cake!

With the birthday girl...

And on her throne in the fridge...

Since we are in packing mode at our house, we decided to have the party at the Kinder Spiel & Spass Fabrik which is a gigantic indoor play area with bouncy castles, slides, trampolines, etc. It was chaotic, but easier as far as prep work goes.

Opening the gifts: Genna is taking orders here from Hannah. I may have to nickname her "The Nazi." Seriously, Hannah was shouting orders at her, about half of them in German. She was telling her which gift was next and to say Thank you louder. Talk about controlling! (Insert innocent shrug here.) I don't know where she gets that from.

Here's Isaac with his girlfriend during the gift opening hullabaloo. She a tad bit older, but I think she likes him. :)

Genna wore her crown that Hannah picked out for her and her "4" necklace that Mimi gave to Hannah a year and a half ago. She was so excited to wear it!

The giant mouse

Time to eat the cake and sing to the birthday girl!

Isaac's taking his girl for a ride.

The favors: Well, thanks to my Nazi daughter (hope nobody is offended by that, I am referencing Seinfeld's "Soup Nazi") I actually remembered to give out the favors. Right as the first person was leaving, she reminds me! Thank you Hannah! I sewed the bags and put chapstick, makeup brushes, decorative hair things, a piece of chocolate, and home-made body glitter in the girls' bags. In the boys' bags, were crayons, chapstick and a piece of chocolate. The bags themselves are made from Brian's old khaki pants and scrap fabric. The boy bags have the plain khaki bags and the girl bags are lined with khaki and have the pretty fabric on the outside. The idea for this came from Confessions of a Sewing Dork but I made them closer to the shape of a sunglasses case. I forgot to take pictures of them, but here are the ones left over for my kids. (Picture is kind of pitiful, but how do you make a picture of bags look nice?)


We took a picture with our dear friends after the party who we are really going to miss! I wish I had gotten a picture of the whole group, but probably that would be impossible with fifteen kids and so many fun things to play on all around us. This picture was a feat in and of itself.

Whew!