A pony party for Addi turning 3!

 So we had really hoped that we would be out of lockdown for Addi's birthday but no such luck! So no friends could come to her party either, but we made up for that by inviting lots of ponies instead!! hehe! 

Including this giant Pinkie Pie! thanks to our awesome balloon lady, Jo, again! 

I just love decorating for parties! I get so much excitement putting up the balloons and bunting and thinking of how pleased Addi would be to see it all set up!

Such a happy birthday girl!

We did an apple toss game from AppleJack...

who is Addi's fave pony!

So of course she had to be front and centre on the cake!

with some pony serviettes too.

and pin the tail on the pony!

and of course musical statues and musical bumps always go down a treat!

We were so pleased that Auntie Mara could join in the fun! 

and Grandpa too, joining in for a round of pass the parcel.

Then it was time for a birthday song and blowing out the candles

Rainbow layers of frosting...

Yum!

Thumbs up from the birthday girl!

and a whole lot of present opening to be getting on with

Playing mini golf that she got from Uncle Ja

Clowning around with Dad

Testing out her new pony puzzles

and finishing off with some more dancing because Addi just loves to throw down some moves!

Modelling her new wetsuit that she got from Grandpa

The next morning was her actual birthday, and so a pancake feast was had!

and round 2 of present opening!

She really wanted this giant leopard that Ella had got for her birthday

Tucking in!

Loving her #3 top from Auntie Alli

Leopard Twinsies!

A family pic before we headed out for a walk to enjoy some nature

It was definitely not as warm as her 2nd birthday!

but still pretty to see the falls of Clyde!

and have a little play at the park

Addi has been watching Ella always build her lego so was very pleased to get her own lego set!

and there we have it! I can't believe it is actually going to be her 4th birthday now in less than 5 weeks! She has requested an Encanto party so we're busy planning that to make it Encanto-tastic for her! We sure do love Addi and the joy and fun she brings to her family, she comes out with the funniest things and everything is more entertaining when she's around! 

A Mermaid-tastic lockdown birthday!

It's been 2 years since I posted on the blog, but I need to resurrect it because I do love the family record it is for us and the kids and I love to look back and read earlier posts and relive the memories! The other day I genuinely couldn't remember if Byron and I had rode on the cable cars at Santa Cruz beach on our American road trip! It was something I had desperately wanted to do but I know when we got there, because I was pregnant there were lots of rides I couldn't go on and I couldn't remember whether we rode them or not! So I looked up the blog post and found a pic of us riding them and so that was my answer! As I get older, I'm sure my memory will fail me more, haha, and so this is another reason to keep the blog going!!! and co-incidentally I just caught covid (finally) and so I have some extra time on my hands with not being able to leave the house!! 

So Ella's 7th birthday was memorable for all the wrong reasons, thanks covid! Lockdown had begun in January in Scotland and it was still ongoing when it came time for Ella's birthday, which was pretty unfortunate since we had only moved to Carnwath in December and it would have been a perfect way for Ella to get to know more of her school friends better to invite people over for a party - but that wasn't an option! So we really wanted to make a fuss of Ella and still make it special.  It had been a tricky transition for her moving, and not just moving, but moving in a lockdown! She was missing friends, she had only been at her new school for one week before lockdown struck so hadn't really had time to make new friends yet and I just felt sorry for her in the situation she found herself in so we partied hard! It began with plaits the night before so that they could have mermaid-tastic waves on the day of the party...

Decorations were set up...

and we got some awesome balloons from our fave balloon lady in Selkirk, and these oh so adorable teepee tents for a fun mermaid themed sleepover! 

They were a big hit with the girls! Even I wished I had one to sleep in, haha!

They made some mermaid plaques for their bedroom doors...

and played all the traditional party games

Auntie Mara sent Ella this perfect headdress for a mermaid! and made that super cute mermaid print paper bunting too! 

We had a colouring in competition...

and of course they had to have a bath before bed to use their mermaid tail bath bomb! 

The fairy lights really made it so cute for bedtime! 

Granny Donny had found these amazing mermaid pjs for them! 

Complete with mermaid tail too! 

They had a little late night snack from our treat club doughnuts that I had ordered for the occasion

Piping on their toppings!

and testing out how tasty they were! 

They were Nutella brownie stuffed doughnuts of dreams! 

All ready for bed after a very exciting day of fun! 

and then 2 days later on her actual birthday she got set on her present opening! I was honestly blown away by how many people remembered her special day and she was truly spoilt from my school and uni friends even, to her friends from her old school, to new church friends, and all our extended families - I know everyone had made the extra effort due to it being lockdown and we were so grateful!

I mean how happy is that little face right there?! 

Lots of people got the mermaid memo with her cards! 

When it's your birthday, a pancake breakfast is a must! 

Ella loves a Biscoff/Nutella combo!

and then she cracked on with the lego building!

and got stuck in to some cake!

Nutella and oreo frosting and layers upon layers of chocolate cake!

Granny Kathy's present arrived just in time, some homemade mermaid inspired lampshades!

Ella was very impressed

and we got them set up in her room

and Dad got cracking on her new lego table!

Ta-da! Each drawer contains a different colour of lego pieces, and then she has all the space on top to build new lego creations! Just perfect for our little lego lover!

So that was a wrap on all the birthday hoopla! We sure do love celebrating and making Ella feel special since she's such a special part of our family! So glad for her that she only had to have one lockdown birthday and that this year was back to normal!