Finally Four

Four: this birthday was a big deal. It was much anticipated, the milestone as much as the party. Violet couldn’t wait to turn four!

birthday girl in her birthday dress

Violet was so excited about turning four, and I’d been seeing upcycled dresses recently with numbers on them that I knew she’d love for showing off how old she was. Of course once you decide you need a number four dress, there’s not a single one to be found, so I did what any girl in need would do: I recruited my mom. I found a rainbow tie-dyed tshirt, had a number four screen printed on another tshirt, took the scissors to both (as well as one other I picked up at a thrift store) and spent the day with Grandma (who can actually sew) making exactly what I had envisioned for my little girl. Fortunately, she loved it. Unfortunately, so did I. I’m really excited about sewing something else for her or for Ruby. In all of my free time. Ahem.

Violet couldn’t wait to wear her dress, and put it on as soon as she woke up on the morning of her birthday so everyone would know how old she was. I had to wash it that night so she could wear it again for her party the next day. (I am definitely not complaining – so glad all our work was worth it.)

Violet had been describing just what she wanted for her birthday party to us for months: a bounce house, and most importantly, to have a butterfly painted on her face. Also, lots of rainbows. We booked a bounce house, and rainbows were definitely something I could run with, but finding a face painter was a bit more challenging. When I finally came across Stacia Nicholson, the rest fell into place.

Stacia came early so Violet could get painted before any of her friends arrived:

madame butterfly

Almost all the kids (and even some of the adults!) who came had their faces painted – Stacia did some amazing work. I wish I could have captured more of them, but the whole party was such a blur. I did catch a few, though, including Casey, of course:

more painting at Violet's birthday party

batman and butterfly

The bounce house was as big a hit as the face painting. It made the kids very happy, but Mama just a tiny bit sad because we hardly saw them the whole party long (and the inside of a bounce house is hardly ideal for photographs . . .) But Violet and her friends had an absolute ball, which was what we were after.

jump!

As much as they loved jumping inside the bounce house, the attached slide was even more popular, especially with Ruby! Getting to the top of the slide through the bouncy house was not an easy ascent, and Ruby needed help for a while. But by the end of the night, she was able to make it up all by herself. And after the guests had gone, the girls got their Daddy to go down with them!

super slide

And the rainbows? They made their way into most everything else. There were rainbow drinks and a fruit rainbow and rainbow sugar cookies for dessert, per Violet’s request. The ribbon wands the older kids took home as favors were made with an adorable rainbow ribbon, and the hand kites for the littles were made with ribbons in rainbow colors as well. And an adorable rainbow table skirt Violet’s Grandma and Papa made!!! I need to find an excuse for another rainbow party, because I couldn’t bear to get rid of it at the end of the night, and it’s too pretty to stay packed away.

rainbows!

It seemed like it was over in an instant, but Violet had such a great time. Understandably, it was hard to see the party coming to an end:

the end?

But Violet, ever the embracer of birthdays, wasn’t ready to stop celebrating just yet. It was late, it was dark, and the grownups were wrapping up the cleanup, but she was still having fun!

Happy 4th Birthday, Violet!!!

She’s already planning her party for next year.