One Lucky SEVEN Year Old

For Miss Libby's Birthday we celebrated in two extremes.  

She had an American Girl Tea Party and a Daddy Daughter Backpacking Trip!

At one party she was pretty, pampered and girlie.  

The other was full of dirt, adventure, and the great outdoors.

The Tea Party

My mom helped me make these cute American Girl Party Dresses for each of the girls we invited to the party.  We pinned a little invitation on the front and told them each to bring their doll dressed in her new party dress.

On the day of the party, we set up a fancy table in the backyard for the girl's to enjoy their tea.  (Well, lemonade and chocolate milk, to be more exact.)  Brooke let me borrow some beautiful linens and we used mom's nice china.  It really was adorable.

 

 

Libby thought it was great that they all said "Cheers" to her!  

She certainly enjoys being the center of attention.

 

We served fruit and yogurt parfaits, heart-shaped grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken nuggets, pigs in blankets, chips, and veggies.  It was all mini-sized and kid friendly.

This is Libby and her new doll Lilly.  She was so so so excited to get her REAL American Girl doll.

I think she picked a cute one.

 

 

I just snapped a few pictures and then left the girls alone so they could have some girl talk.

After dinner we opened gifts.  Libby closed her eyes and then someone would say "Happy Birthday" in a silly voice.  Libby had to guess who said it.  It was really funny!  Even Grandpa joined in on the fun. 

 Then the girls made some crafts.  We made Hawaiian Necklaces to match the darling Hawaiian dresses that my mom is making for all of the dolls.  We also made some doll-sized flip flops to match the little party dresses they got for the party.  I am always impressed with the level of creativity these kids have.  They all made such darling shoes!  It was so fun to watch them cut, glue, design and decorate their sandals.  Every one was so unique!

 

 

 

 

 

Libby requested Hot Fudge Sundaes for her birthday dessert.  We built some tasty treats and sang the birthday song.  She made one serious wish before she blew out her candle.  I am tempted to ask what she was hoping for so I can help it come true.  :)

After we licked out bowls clean, the girls and my mom all went night swimming over at Rachelle's pool.  I cleaned up a bit and then headed home to take care of my little boys!  After the pool, the girl's and their dolls all got dressed in their pajamas and then they had a big sleepover in the Grand-kids Room.

Isn't my mom a trooper to let the party continue all night long?  Here is Miss Libby in her matching nightgown that my mom made for her.  Libby thought it was funny that she had to show Grandma how to turn on the camera.  :) 

They had scones for breakfast and then went swimming again!  They spent the rest of the afternoon playing with their dolls and having fun with cousins until Cord picked them up for their next adventure!

The Daddy Daughter Backpacking Trip

Cord has really been looking forward to taking the girl's backpacking for awhile.  He wanted to have some one-on-one time with Libby and Natalie.  He wants to make it an annual tradition so they know that he loves them and wants to spend time with them away from everything else.  Cord is such a good daddy.  He invited Dax and Doug to join in on the outing!

He said that Natalie was leading the pack on the way into camp.  She didn't complain a bit about the extra weight on her back.  It sounds like all of the cute girl's were excited to be backpacking and did a really good job hiking.

  

 

They set up a great little camp!  Natalie told me that she helped build the fire.  They cooked their meals on Cord's little stove and they had birthday marshmallows and popcorn around the fire when it got dark.  

It looks like Nat got a little bit of dirt on her face.  .  .

Cord said that he put the girls to bed and then went back outside to finish cleaning up camp.  When he got back in the tent they were already asleep.  The next morning he was up and he heard the tent unzip and saw Nat's face pop out of the crack.  She saw Cord and said, "Dad!  Did you not even go to sleep?!"  

 

That day the little girls played in Hammock Heaven, walked through the Flower Meadow, watched the Dads fish, and went exploring.  They were all disappointed when it was time to pack up and hike out!  They wanted to stay another night.

  

 

Cord made them a rock table to eat off of and chairs to sit on. 

 

 

Hiking out...

 

 

I would say that these dads already know what a treasure it is to have little girls.  It makes me so happy to see them taking time to build a relationship of love and friendship with their daughters!  This is defiantly a tradition I would love to see continue throughout the years...

 

On the way home they stopped to eat at a little diner.  Libby told me that she had a fly in her water and that Dad told the waiter that they needed a water "without a bug in it" and that what Libby got wasn't on the menu.  She thought that was funny.  She also told me that there were a lot of "barking spiders" up at camp.  Silly daddy.

We love Libby and hope she had a very very HAPPY BIRTHDAY and thank all of our wonderful family for joining in on the celebrations!