Birthday fun...part 2

Yesterday we entertained in our new house for the first time. We started off small with Kate's first real "kids" party to celebrate her 3rd birthday. Unlike the years before, this party was planned completely around Kate. Let's face it, the first couple of birthday parties are so much more for the parents. This year Kate picked the balloons, the food, the decor, and the guests. It was definitely a party fit for a princess.
























Planned for the end of May, who would have thought that we'd have to contend with the threat of rain! With the party planned for outside, we spent the morning praying that the sun would poke through. By party time it was nice and dry with a little cloud cover that made it pretty chilly but the outside party was totally do-able. Thank you, God!For weeks we've been talking about the special guest that was going to come to Kate's party but I don't think she was quite prepared for the wonder of having Ariel, her favorite Disney princess, right here in her own home. She was completely star struck. It was priceless.

Ariel asked Kate to introduce her to all of her friends but Kate was so giddy and couldn't stop smiling at the camera.

She read them stories....

did magic (with Kate as her assistant)...

and all of the girls got their face painted!

The attempted group shot with all the kiddos went as well as can be expected. I think Ryan was quite enamored with Ariel- but who can blame him. ;)

All in all, the party was a success and Kate had a fantastic time. We are so blessed to have such wonderful little friends to share our celebrations (their parents aren't bad, either). =) Thank you all for being such good friends, Kate loved having you all here.

Happy birthday, Kate!