Hadley's Teddy Bear Picnic

For months and months, Hadley told me she wanted a Princess Sophia party for her birthday, and I have to admit that I wasn't super excited about planning another princess party since we just did one last year. That said, I tried suggesting a few other themes here and there, but she wasn't budging. 

Since it was HER birthday after all, I went ahead and began searching for a few Sophia ideas to make this year's princess party unique from last time; I even began plotting how to make a castle out of empty refrigerator boxes if my engineer husband would help me. To my surprise though, one night at bed time when we were talking about her party again, Hadley said she changed her mind and wanted a teddy bear party instead. 

A teddy bear picnic!?!? How fun that would be to plan I thought to myself, but I didn't want to jump the gun. She'd had her heart set on that Sophia party for so long that I couldn't believe she'd change her mind so quickly, so I waited a few days and asked her again here and there to see if the new theme idea had stuck. Surprisingly, there was no wavering. A teddy bear picnic it was!

I envisioned this being one of the easiest parties I'd ever planned - a few quilts in the yard with picnic baskets packed full of a few treats, but as always Pinterest lead me off the straight and narrow and by the time the big day arrived I was pooped! Everything turned out just as I hoped in the end thankfully, and Hadley was really pleased with her party. 

Grape and goldfish butterflies, anyone?

A picnic wouldn't be complete without ants - too bad we accidentally brought a few real ants inside with us after the party!

Miniature gummy bears

One of my main concerns in the days leading up to the party was the weather. Weather.com didn't help my fears any by suggesting that we would probably get rain. Oh, we definitely could have had a picnic inside, but I had this dreamlike vision of quilts on the lawn with balloons tied to picnic baskets awaiting our guests. Peaceful and beautiful....Though it was somewhat selfish, I even prayed for good weather. Needless to say, I was so excited when the forecast changed and we had a gorgeous day on April 1st as I was setting up while my kids were resting.

I felt a little like Yogi bear borrowing picnic baskets from everyone I knew. Thanks, Mommy, Courtney, Grandma, and Cindy!

Not long after I finished putting everything together just a half hour or so before the party, some dark clouds rolled in and it began to sprinkle. Quickly, Dave, Grandpa McKinstry, and I rushed to get all the tables, blankets, and baskets into the garage, picking our brains for what to do now. Since I expected the weather to be nice, I hadn't prepped the inside of the house for a picnic and had toys and the leftovers of party supplies strung throughout. Ashamedly, I was even frustrated with God for letting me get this far only to have pick it all up again. To be honest, I probably needed the slap on the wrist that that short lived shower gave me; I had become too consumed with the party planning and the picture perfect image I had in my head. Thankfully, the Lord is long-suffering and patient with me. He is also gracious. Before long the sprinkling stopped and we were able to put out everything again before our friends arrived. I was humbled even farther as several guests commented that it had down poured in other parts of town and they were surprised at how little rain we had received. 

Miss Hadley didn't have any worries about the day thankfully, and while all the little details of my party planning may have been a bonus to her day, what really made Hadley light up was when her friends arrived. (Maybe I should take a lesson from my daughter.)

Hadley with Marie - one of her best friends from Awana

Uh-oh look at this little Romeo

One of the first activities I had planned for the kids was a bear building craft I found online. I printed out the bears on cardstock so they'd be sturdier, but that actually made it a bit too hard for them to get their brads through so mommies and NaNa had to give some extra help.

Marie with Hannah - another Awana friend! Hannah's mom (Nicki) and I have become good friends through MOPS and are both homeschooling. We recently started a mom's Bible study group together. 

Then everyone enjoyed their dinner. Trying to keep it simple, I purchased Uncrustables (prepackaged PB&J's), bags of chips, and TEDDY grahams to fill the baskets. The only extra treat I ended up making were the goldfish and grape butterflies. Definitely a meal to delight youthful appetites, and since the parents didn't have to make supper, it was a win-win for all.

When I first started dating Dave, Sidney was his roommate. His wife, Anna, was on the mission trip to Jamaica that Dave and I went on when we met. I actually shared a room with her for a good portion of the trip. We don't get to see each other much these days except for birthday parties, so I was extra glad they could come.

We were originally expecting 50-55 friends, but at the last minute a few families had to cancel. Hadley still had 33 partiers to celebrate - a great turn out!

My dad and Addie's mom were first cousins. She and I were in the same grade and cheered together which helped us grow close in high school. We went to college together as well but, since getting married, haven't seen each other as much. I was so glad her and her sweet Ella could make it.

Daryl and Noelle are Marie's parents. Daryl and I have known each other since childhood, but recently reconnected since his wife is the Puggles teacher at Awana. She had Hadley last year and this year has been teaching Reid.

My great aunt (Margaret), Grandma Nora Ann, Granny, and Granddaddy

You know who Caleb wanted to hang out with - his favorite person, Aunt Courtney.

Brenda and Cole

Blooper: I had so much running through my head after the whole rain ordeal, plus trying to make sure everyone felt welcome and thinking about the activities I had planned, that I made a pretty silly goof-up. When one of her daughters need to use the bathroom, Anna asked me where it was. Not fully processing her question in my distracted mind, I responded, "Oh, it's in the house." "Oh," she responded, a bit bewildered but graciously. I immediately realized what I'd just said and apologized for such a ridiculous answer. Thankfully, Anna just laughed. Oh, goodness! 

The birthday girl was a little too excited and wouldn't take a nap. Don't fall asleep now, Hadley!

After everyone was finished eating we did a few teddy bear races. For the first round, the kids were supposed to partner up and figure out how to carry their bear from the starting point to the finish line with their friend but without using their hands.

Hannah's older sister, Sarah, got to be my partner!

Go, Caleb and Hadley! You can do it. 

For the second race, they had to hold the bear between their knees. This was much easier for them and I loved their expressions.

Then we put the bears on a parachute and tossed them.

Next was some pinata fun. Hadley requested a pinata for her party and I saw a really cute bee hive idea that I wanted to try but never got around to. In the end, it probably worked out for the best because Dave found this flower one at Walmart and it saved me a lot of time and mess. She was more than satisfied.

 

These were the loot bags I made for the kids to gather their candy. We couldn't set them out on the table because it was so windy!

The parachute game and pinata smashing were part of a bigger scheme actually. On Pinterest I found the idea for making binoculars out of toliet paper rolls to use for a teddy bear hunt. With all the teddy bears still on the parachute and the kids distracted, I sent Aunt Courtney to hide our stuffed friends while I used toothpicks to stake paw prints throughout the yard. 

Though I cut out a ton of bear prints, the hunt didn't last long because those little boogers were quick at tracking along the trail.

Finally, out came the bubbles and pinwheels for a little less organized fun.

Though almost everything was in brown, red, and blue themed colors, Hadley piped up at the last minute and told me she wanted a colorful cake when I mentioned making a brown teddy. I finally got her to narrow her list of colors down to just pink and purple and went to work. It took me much longer than I expected, but I was pretty pleased with how it turned out in the end. Hadley, on the other hand, wanted to know why I made her a black and white cake. "What?" I asked. "Your cake was pink and purple." "But the eyes were black and white," she responded. Ooops. How could I have messed that up? :) 

We had a little trouble lighting the candles due to the wind, but finally we got it done. Happy Birthday to Hadley! Happy Birthday to you!!!!

As everyone ate their cake, we got another special treat as the train rolled by. The kids may have been more excited about that than anything I'd planned. The conductor even tooted his horn as he passed by after seeing us on the hill.

As always, the party ended with gift opening. We put the presents up in the kids' treehouse to keep them from blowing away, and Hadley scrambled right up there to open them, which was a pretty good spot for everyone to see until all the kids started trying to get up there too. We shifted around a bit and the girls crowded around to see what their friend received.

Aunt Courtney must have picked out something exciting!

A quilt for her big girl bed from Mommy and Daddy

Hadley has wanted this American Girl doll since well before Christmas. While she's still a bit too young to invest in the full size version, NaNa found a miniature one. What a sweet smile on that sweet face.

At Ella's birthday party in January, Hadley was so excited over this Doc McStuffins dog carrier and pup. Mommy gave Grandpa a hint that she might like one for her birthday. She asked to take it out of the package as soon as she opened it. :)

After most of the guest had left, Grandma really got a little wild and crazy, playing a game of tee ball with Reid and using her cane as a bat. She cracks me up!

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl! We hope you had a good one.