Fantastic Fourth!

The week leading up to Carolina's birthday party was broken into lots of little errands. I kept saying I would keep her party small and really intended on inviting only her preschool classmates. But as more and more RSVP'ed that they were out of town, I realized the party I envisioned wasn't going to happen. So we brought in lots of friends from our playgroup who have kids Elisa's age and younger. I threw in some My Little Pony decorations and themed sweets and we were starting to look like a celebration. Carolina's pile of presents also grew in the days before her birthday. It's so easy to go overboard when she's such an easy-to-please kid. Luckily, she gave me some really good instructions just before her big day. She wanted a Paw Patrol-My Little Pony-Shopkins birthday party. So I made sure to get a few gifts from each of those subsets and she was thrilled. Elisa also got to open a couple of things, and that went better than the night before when she went to bed bawling that she wasn't going to get lots of presents like Carolina. Oh my. Yes, big sister still knows how to steal the show. But the day of it all went off without a hitch. Or at least I don't feel like I stressed about any of it. I made pulled pork and slaw for the grown ups. We ordered some cheese pizzas and had rainbow cupcakes that turned out wonderfully. Amanda and Max wrapped up Birdie's party just before ours and dragged coolers full of ice and drinks over to make life that much easier. It was all coming together and I had lots of fun sitting back and talking to folks who turned out for a perfectly summery afternoon in the park. We even managed a quick game of parachute and Duck Duck Goose. Carolina was delighted, even if she did freak out a bit later about opening her gifts right there in the park. It was all overwhelming for this normally cheery girl. And that's how four is going so far. There's still so much sweetness and love from Carolina, but there's also some steel will and sass. She is NOT the little sister as she likes to say. She's a big girl! And yes, I know that she will always be my baby girl, but really, don't try to convince her. She has her sights set on running with the big kids and that's just how it should be. So happy #4, Carolina. We love you so.