Liliana's Fairy Birthday Party

We decided upon a "fairy" theme for Liliana's 2nd birthday because I feel like we have done 'princesses' to death around here. Tink and fairies were a close second for her, so I went with it.

Before I talk about her party, I want to take a minute to say how much I LOVE DOING STUFF for/with Liliana. Adam and I will be 150% happy with our next baby, whether she is girl, boy, girly-boy, or boyish-girl, but we are both having so much fun with our girly-girl, that we are partially hoping for another who is just the same. Everything that she is into is right up my alley (for obvious reasons), and easy to have fun with even if you are a guy's guy. Who doesn't get a kick out of watching a cute little girl light up over tutus, jewels and fairy wings?!? It's infectious and Adam and I are both completely infected. Planning and setting up for her birthday was a blast.

When Liliana woke up in the morning, my mom heard her talking about her mani/pedi, or lack thereof. Liliana knew it was her party day when she opened her eyes and she was worried that the "belle of the ball" would be seen without her nails done. My mom and Lila (I was lucky enough to join later) cuddled in my my mom's bed and talked about the day--who was going to come over and what they were going to do--and my mom assured her that she would get her mani/pedi before her guests arrived. (Love them!) She was so excited.

I think that the party was a hit in the birthday girl's eyes. So many people pitched in to make it special for her...my Auntie Shelley did the desserts (although I planned to help more, my one evening of help didn't amount to much. My Aunt is amazingly creative and did a fabulous job before I even showed up); Adam, my Aunt Shelley and my mom all did their part to make the fairy tent that is now in Liliana's bedroom; my Mom and Dad and Krissy helped with the food; my Auntie Barbara and Uncle Steve and Margo and Athon lent us bounce houses (we had 2--a big, castle shaped one for the big kids and a smaller one for the toddlers); our good friend Beth made Liliana's beautiful, whimsical, toad-stool cake; my Mom made Liliana's special fairy costume; and Adam was an all-around-super star doing everything from moving furniture in the living room to make space for toddlers, to building a make shift fence around our driveway so that no little ones escaped after bouncing, to using his artistic abilities to help make all of the signs that I asked him to.

The details:

I forgot to take a picture of the food table, but here is a shot of Liliana eating one of the butterfly shaped sandwiches. We had all natural PB&J or turkey and cheese for the kids. For the adults we made a deli sandwich layered with arugula, turkey, olive tapenade, smoked red peppers, and provolone. We also made a pasta salad.

The Adorable Little Pirates and Pixies:

The fairy princess and her royal subjects:






Tinkerbell:

Tinkerbell did a magic show. Liliana got to hold the wand and every time she would do a trick, Tink would have all of the guests say, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILIANA!" In one of her tricks she made lollipops appear. As part of the trick she asked Liliana what her favorite food was. I think she expected her to say cake, or ice cream, or something sweet that would go along with the trick. I am nearly positive she didn't anticipate that Liliana's response would be, "mmmmmmmm...SALMON!!" God I love that kid! :)



Tinkerbell also did face painting. The entire time Tink painted Lila's face Lila was grilling her about her shoes, her dress, her nails, and her makeup.

Tink led a fairy dance also:


and Tink did some balloons...sort of. She couldn't really make too many things. Gavin asked for a sea creature and she said, "how about a sword?" He said, "That's NOT a sea creature!" So she made him something that slightly resembled a fish. :):


Cake Time: