When our girl started to give input on her party about seven months ago, she told me that she wanted "Six princesses, because I'm turning six!" While it seemed like a very high number, why not? I thought and moved forward with the booking of five princesses, plus Aladdin. Oh, and I also want a pony and that big waterslide! Yes, and yes! We planned to invite her whole class, because we love her school and want to get to know many of the like-minded parents. Earlier in the year, around January, someone asked me if I thought we would get any attendees, as Covid was still all the rage in the media. I knew we would get some people, as many of our friends have moved on with their lives (which Biden stated we cannot do until July 4th, and our governor states we cannot do until June 15th). But what I didn't expect was 16 families from her class alone saying the would be there! I couldn't believe it as we passed 100 people and then approached 150. As it turned out, having six princesses was nearly necessary, as one or two would not have been able to handle this kind of crowd.
I sent out her invites with a schedule of events, as many families have other obligations on Saturdays. That way, people could choose when to come. Many stayed for the entire party, but a few chose to come after practice, or after attending another party.
One of my favorite moments of the day that I will never forget happened right after the first few guests arrived. Aut had taken them up to see her room, and one of the girls glanced out her window and saw all of the princess walking down the street. I happened to be in our entry way, when she came running down the stairs exclaiming "The princesses are here!" and I was quick on the draw with my cell phone.
The princesses did a fantastic job of corralling the kids and leading them through some organized storytelling and dancing, before dividing and conquering to do face painting and balloon twisting.
The princesses sung happy birthday and posed for photos before leaving. As soon as they departed, the TK Burger truck was set up and serving. About thirty minutes after that the pony arrived, and then we inflated the waterslide, where the birthday girl spent the rest of the afternoon. It was nice having both the waterslide and pony rides to choose from, because the lines were a bit shorter. We also had a piñata, and the favor for each family was a copy of Black Beauty. While the larger group made it hard to visit with people, but it was still a most wonderful day. Few things in this world bring me as much joy as curating a magical birthday for our children.