Calli turned FOUR!!

Calli turned 4 on January 4th!! I believe it's called a Champagne birthday when you turn the same age as your birth day. There was no champagne served at this party though. Nope! There were games, prizes, balloons and a LOT of little girls running around, which did NOT excite the single 4 year old boy who was invited to the party. However, we made sure he had "boy toys" as his prizes for playing games. His goodie bag was also boy themed, as were the contents.

Here is the birthday girl with her pink cake. I made a normal everyday cake, but handmade and tinted the icing, to make it extra-Princess-y. The day before the party Calli woke up and said "Only one more sleep until my party!!! I can't wait for everyone to sing Happy Birthday to me!!"



The cake. I thought about attempting the actual Cinderella cake pan I bought last year and piping the icing on, but Adam did a little birthday research and came through with the idea of putting a tiara on the cake!! SO much easier... And yes, that letter i is dotted with a heart!



After the kids were all hopped up on the sugary icing, we brought out the Princess pinata. We decided to let all the kids have a turn trying to beat the thing open, but nobody really succeeded, so we resorted to letting them pull the strings, one of which would unlock the secret compartment, thereby dumping candy and prizes all over the place!! This is the mad scramble aftermath once the pinata was opened!!



Marin was a very good sport and loved the attention she got from all the kids. She tried joining in all the games, but some were a bit advanced for her.



This string game was set up by Adam the night before the party. The basement was blocked off to everyone, including the cat!! The idea was to start each kid off with a pencil attached to a different colour of string, then have them wind the string around the pencil as they stepped over and under various obstacles (and other string) until they reached the end, where they would find a prize. Unfortunately, the kids, being 4 and 5 years old, didn't have the attention span needed to complete the game. They got bored quickly, so Adam had to wind the string up for them to get them near their prizes and re-interested in the game. We might try this one again in a few years!!



Calli and one of the girls at her school share the same birthday, so once they were back at school, they had an in-class birthday celebration which we were invited to participate in. We all sat in a circle and Ms. Lisa lit a candle in the middle to represent the sun. Then Calli and Laurie carried the earth around the sun while we sang "The Earth goes around the sun....then Calli and Laurie turned one!!" This is followed by everyone having a look at the corresponding picture from their birthday timelines, then the walking and the song continues until they get up to the age they are now!



What a great way for the kids to learn when and why they have a birthday. It's easy to tell your child they'll be 5 "next year," but how do you explain how long a year is? Three hundred and sixty five days really has no meaning to a young child, so by teaching them that each time the earth goes around the sun they turn another year older, I think they get a better idea. I LOVE the whole idea of it and it was really nice to be a part of Calli learning it too!!



Afterwards we enjoyed some cookies (made by Adam and the girls) and some fresh pineapple (brought in by Lauries dad). Till next year!