On Saturday we had the girls' birthday party at
Gingerbread Acres, a horse farm about 10 minutes from our house. Charlotte has been talking and asking about her 4th birthday party since her 3rd birthday party so she was quite excited about it! Naomi enjoyed seeing her friends but isn't as big a fan of all the attention as Charlotte is. Despite not wanting to ride the pony (or even pet one of the mini ponies), I think she had a lot of fun.
Naomi did laps around the van when Jared first brought them over :)
How cute are these girls?! And doesn't the warning sign add to the festivity?
I labeled a lot of the food to fit the farm theme. The popcorn was "Feed".
Oreos = "Tractor Wheels"
It took me several hours, but I made the cake! The barn was a store-bought pound cake and the rest was pink lemonade flavored. I found the idea on Pinterest and it linked to
Family Fun, which gave detailed instructions on how to assemble it. It wasn't complicated, just time consuming. But totally worth it when the girls saw it and got so excited about it!
The farm cake had chicks...
Pigs...
And cows... But no horses. Charlotte pointed out that she was having a horse party and there weren't any horses on the cake. She doesn't miss a detail!
After the safety spiel, we were asked if we had any questions. Charlotte popped her hand up and confessed that she had already fed the goats. Sweet girl!
Naomi wanted nothing to do with the ponies, but Charlotte hopped on with no fear. And homegirl made sure she got to wear the pink helmet!
So excited!
Sweet Ella rocking her boots on the farm!
Some of the party guests! The Riccis and Gambinos.
Hannah, being coaxed into riding the pony. Can't you tell she loves it? ;-) It took her a minute, but she did get used to it and even wanted to ride again.
Naomi found other things to occupy her time. They had games set up for the kids to play.
My nephew, Donaven, let all of the girls go first. What a gentleman!
Naomi, dismissing whatever Angela was telling her. She's quite stubborn!
She figured out the best way to jump rope. You run and swing the rope behind you. Much easier than the traditional way!
They also had a hay ride for the kids, which they all loved.
Naomi, quite content to watch everything from the other side of the fence
Charlotte had to ride on the other pony too!
The kids had a blast feeding the goats. Charlotte had a clean conscience after she confessed she had fed them before she was told she could.
Samantha was playing in the dirt with the stick and couldn't figure out how the ground kept getting wet
The banner I made the girls
The whole spread...
"Vegetable Garden"
"Hay Bales" (Sidenote: I am incapable of making rice krispy treats that don't fall apart.)
The girls blowing out their candles
One of the gifts was a sweet tea party tray. It was made by my
sister-in-law's parents. They do custom wood working of just about any sort. We have quite a few of their handmade pieces in our home!
Jared and I gave the girls each a scooter. It has two wheels in the back so is more stable for them to ride. Charlotte's has princesses, Naomi's has Tinkerbell. They both love them!
My best friend,
Shannon, drove up from Melrose for the festivities.
My mom was a ton of help. She was there early to help me get things set up.
The girls had a blast and are already talking about their next birthday party. Hopefully we can get away with a joint party for a few more years!
