A party for a princess

The invitation...

then... there was lots of planning and waiting!  This morning Kate decided she wanted to wear her new dress (meant to be a new spring dress, but whatever).  She posed beside her balloon bouquet and then with her sister.

We then finished the last of the preparations (okay mostly it was Ken dealing with food) and then we waited for our friends!  When all our friends arrived Sir William the Wise took over to invite the prince and princesses on a quest.

Welcome good prince and princesses.  I am Sir William the Wise.  It is my job to lead on your quest.  We need to discover if you possess the qualities of a truly royal person.

You must be intelligent, creative, courageous, and compassionate. 

You will have tasks to complete to prove yourself.  Are you ready for the challenge?

Their first challenge was to prove their intelligence, which they did through singing the ABC's, counting to 20 and making some animal noises.  Next up was creativity.  We started with kazoo music - it was awesome! Then it was time to decorate crowns.

Then they were off to find the dragon.  They were all given a sword.  Sir William also provided advice on how to use the swords.

Then off to the basement to the dragon's lair.  (The crawl space of course!)

The dragon (Lydia) quite happily handed over the treasure.

The treasure box (the pinata) was brought upstairs for the slaughter and well, the treasure box didn't go down without some serious fight!

Then it was time to feed the hungry royals.  The littles had pizza and veggies and the bigs had pulled pork sandwiches and guacamole and chips.  Ken prepared an abundant and delicious feast.

After lunch Kate decided that it was time to open her presents and so she did.

 And since all our little royals had completed their quest, they crowned themselves.

Next was the cake!  Or rather cupcakes.  My sweet friend Shawn was commissioned to make them.  They tasted as good as they looked.  They were so awesome!

All that was left was the couch picture.  Poor Alice who was at this point completely over-wrought was still subjected to being photographed.

Everyone had a wonderful time and Kate was showered with love and fun!  Yay for birthdays.  I'm so thankful for my wonderful friends and their wonderful children.

Three final notes because I want to remember.  First was that we missed Ciaran - he had a fever the night before and was unable to come. Second, Ruth (Ava's Mom) took most of the photos.  Thank you thank you Ruth!  Third, when Kate's friends started to leave when the party was over she looked so sad.  Darby and her siblings and her Mom stayed and hung out and it was the perfect ending.  Kate really truly had an awesome party!