Emma's Candy Land Birthday Party

A week ago Sunday we had Emma's birthday party ~ yes, almost a month after her actual birthday. She's always so patient as we plan the festivities between Easter, Spring Break from school, preparation for the Spring children's musical at church, and Mother's Day. Emma wanted to have a bounce house party, so we rented a blow up Candy Land house for the occasion.

The bounce house kept our girls and our next door neighbor's four children busy for two solid days, they loved it...
 I was so thankful that I made time to take photos of the girls playing in the bounce house the day before the party, right after we had set it up {which was a memorable experience in and of itself, I might add!} I had quite a few other things that needed to be done, but I took a quick break to get pictures, and that proved to be nearly impossible the following day during the party.


 You'll likely have to click on all the collages if you want to see any of the photos up close. We had so many photos, that I couldn't post them all individually. Usually Kamele prefers to be by herself when she plays in bounce houses, I think when there's lots of kids in there she gets a little overwhelmed and bounced around too much. She was so much more comfortable in this one. Maybe because it was huge. Or maybe just because it was in our yard?


 The birthday girl loving her selection of bounce houses! She kept taking flying leaps into the ice cream cones and popsicles on the walls of Candy Land, pretending that she was eating them. They did look good :-)


 The kids stopped jumping long enough to pose for a picture.


 Tired jumpers, or at least they were pretending to be tired.


 Emma put her arms up like this and said "L is for LOVE it!!" Her "L" is backwards but the sentiment was still sweet!


 A few pics from during the party. Emma is friends with some of the nicest kids! We had a house {and yard} full of children, and they were all so good.


 Pinata fun. We {and by this I mean Dave :-) who always has a very logical plan} lined the kids up shortest to tallest for their turn to face the rainbow pinata. I enjoyed watching the expressions of the kids in line each time the pinata was hit!


 The kids had such cute, intense looks on their faces when preparing to hit the pinata. Unknown treasures of candy ready to fall at any moment is a powerful motivator.


 After the party, Rebekah told me she wants a bounce house for her birthday too.


 I worked so hard to get this group picture, no one would sit still.


 Happy girls.


 Emma admiring a card that her sweet friend Halle made for her.

It was a beautiful day for a party. I was nervous all week long because rain had been in the forecast for the entire weekend. The party ended at 4pm, and right on cue at 3:55 clouds and wind moved in. We couldn't have asked for better timing if the rain had to come. The kids enjoyed a fun afternoon, a great 7th birthday celebration for Emma!