Isla's birthday party

we decided to keep things relatively simple this year for isla's birthday party (i.e. not have to clean the house!) and had her party at dancing for joy, the great dance studio where she and many of her friends take classes.  

we didn't really have a cohesive theme this year, but isla was clear she wanted ballet, strawberries, butterflies, flowers and a tea party to make their way into the festivities.  we put out a simple butterfly craft for the girls to decorate with stickers as they arrived.

thanks to grandma, yet again, for a beautiful cake-decorating job!

the lovely ladies chatting on the couch

after the craft the girls made their way into one of the studios, where mrs. v., (the owner of the school and a mom from noah's class) led the girls in a wonderful tea-party/obstacle course/ballet class.  she did a great job of incorporating all our random themes and keeping a dozen 5 year olds interested!  

a teddy bear tea party

practicing balance with the teddy bears

isla flying!  (photo from christina)

as a party gift isla and i made each girl a little notebook.  we just used pretty cardstock paper for the covers and put a few sheets of typing paper inside.  i sewed the middles on my widest stitch, and they came out fairly sturdy!  we added a pack of colorful pens with each.

i think everyone had a great time!  i for sure enjoyed not having to clean up before or after!  and having someone else make hot coffee for the grown-ups was a perk as well.  :)

here is a video of the special tea party dance the girls did, where isla the host invites her friends to come and serves them tea.  so cute!