Serenity's Sixth Birthday Unicorn Party
Serenity's party started off with a big surprise! The first two guests to arrive at the party were a unicorn and his pony friend! Rachel the pony handler came to the door and immediately Serenity introduced herself and started telling her how it was her birthday party today and all the things we had planned. She was so excited to tell someone about her party that didn't let Rachel finish her speech so she still had no idea there were ponies waiting to see her! Finally I told Serenity that there was a surprise for her and she should let Rachel talk. We followed her out to the horse trailer and when she realized there were real ponies to ride she was absolutely thrilled! One was even dressed as a unicorn, and while she did point out that it was a unicorn costume and not a real unicorn, she was extremely happy anyway. She rode the white unicorn first, and Donovan rode Stormy the brown pony. They got to ride before any other guests arrived. I spent the first hour trying to get pictures of everyone riding the ponies and getting people started on the craft and making sure everyone got a unicorn horn to wear. I'm not good at delegating. =)
I nailed canvases to the fence for the party craft. I loved this setup! I gave the kids paint in egg cartons, and a chip brush so we could just dispose of the mess afterwards. The canvas had a ribbon hanger with a rosette attached to write names on, and a vinyl sticker of a unicorn. The kids painted the canvas and then peeled the sticker to reveal a beautiful unicorn! I still want to paint one myself, I may do that with the extra canvases. =)
A few people tried out the game of Unicorn Shoes that was set up in the grass. A little glitter to a set of horseshoes and some new stakes made out of spirals like unicorn horns and it was all set.
After half an hour of pony rides, with Serenity and Donovan getting at least five rides each, it was time for the feeding and grooming activities. Everyone loved this, and the horses got so many treats they were having a hard time chewing them all. I wanted to brush the horses too, they were so beautiful. I really hope one of my kids wants to take riding lessons and doesn't mind if Mama takes them at the same time. =)
At this point, it was time to bring out the watermelon popsicles to cool off. They were unicorn horn shaped as well, thanks to the popsicle mold I found. So fun! =) And the popsicles were just watermelon with a pinch of salt and a tiny bit of sugar. With a really great watermelon you wouldn't even need that.
We came inside for the food and the rest of the activities then. The unicorns practiced their magic with the Magic Milk Experiment. Pour about a quarter inch of milk into a dish, put a bit of food coloring in, and use your unicorn horn dipped in dish soap to make magic! The swirly colors are so pretty, this experiment is addictive!
At the last minute I added a beading activity. We already had plenty of beads, so I just set them out on the table with some pendants I made with a unicorn sticker and one of those metal rimmed labels. Easy and cute =)
I love all the sweet unicorns! Everyone wore the unicorn horns I made. Although I think Eric wore his the longest, he still has it on and the kids have gone to bed. And I love the silly unicorns with multiple horns ;) I think Barrett and Raegan were in a competition to see who could find the craziest ways to wear unicorn horns.
Serenity was excited about her cake! She actually got to cut into it, and then she discovered that it was a pinata cake! Jennifer had hidden jelly beans inside. She didn't say a thing when she saw that, she just immediately started stuffing jelly beans in her mouth. She told me all about it later and was so happy about another great surprise =) The rest of the food all fit the unicorn theme as well. We had rice krispie treats shaped like horns. Actually, they were fruity pebble treats, and Eric managed to find fruity pebbles in just pink and purple so they were perfect! He did the grocery shopping for the party and he did such a fantastic job he might just get to do all the grocery shopping =) He found purple dish soap for the unicorn magic, and the pink and purple fruity pebbles, and the perfect color juice boxes. =) We also had rainbow fruit kebabs, pretzel sticks, and cheese sticks. All horn shaped foods.
I pretty much lost control of the party at this point. Fishing happened and was enjoyed by all, but I was putting Maia down for a nap so I wasn't much help. Serenity had asked about getting to open her presents so I said she could, and somehow she ended up opening them in the narrow space between my desk and the stairs in complete chaos. So I have no idea who gave her what present, and I can only hope the video my dad took might give me some clues, or thank you notes are going to be a bit generic! She adores her presents though. She has created Snuggleville and Ponyville up in her room, and has distributed various ponies and horses around it, and she's sleeping underneath a beautiful rainbow. She brought her new unicorn backpack over to me and told me how this was her new backpack for school and was just gushing about it. So much fun and so many sweet friends came to celebrate with us! It was wonderful!
After the party was done I got another huge hug and she told me it was her best party yet! She loved the pony rides despite the heat and she was so thrilled about every part of her party. I just love her =) She is so sweet and enthusiastic, it's just so much fun!! She also told me "I'm so glad you're my friend Mama." =) Just melts my heart =)
After the party was done we spent the rest of the evening visiting with our wonderful friends from Oklahoma City. It was lovely, and the kids played together upstairs so well! They went through dozens of costume changes, and I think the older boys were on a mission to complete all of Serenity's lego sets in one day. I am so happy with how everything turned out! I'm still a bit giddy from the wonderful day!
