February 23, 2008

All ready for her duck party!

And she's off!

PaPa and Suki share a quiet moment before the festivities.

Grace had so much fun on the couch with Allison and Erin, being tickled and laughing hilariously.

Suki sucks the ear of her beloved dog.

Coloring and playing at our duck activity table.

Playing with every toy in the house, I swear.

Sook is determined to get a turn with the ball machine.

Fun with juice boxes.

As you can imagine, Suki's stayed closed.

A little kiss for Mom.

Pinata time! I converted this duck pinata to a ribbon pull version, considering the preschoolers and indoor nature of our game. Here you can see some of the kids with their treat bags (all the better for the hoarding) and Grace ready to pull a ribbon.

The kids were riveted by the possibility that treats could rain down on them at any moment.

Finally, an emptied pinata and a chance to get their five allotted treats.

Grace predictably hung back just a little and went to get some treats once the fray had thinned a bit.

Too cute.

Suki looks like she's daring anyone to come near her loot.

Cupcake time! I don't think we got a great shot of these but Grace had requested the little ducks swimming in a pond on top and she was thrilled with them.

She's not really getting two cupcakes here, she just wanted one untainted by unwrapping and one that she could actually eat.

Grace loved these so much, it was very hard for her to wait to the right time in the party to eat them. Per her (insistent) request ahead of time, there was no birthday song but luckily everyone at the party has or had toddlers and so they understood.

Suki also loved her cupcake!

Present time!

Grace shows a weary patience with Suki's hot headed request to share the presents. Suki was saying "share, share" a lot today.

Rip!

So happy to see her new book.

Poky Little Puppy -- Grace was very good at being thrilled with her gifts (even when it was something she already had, such as this book) and thanking everyone after opening them.

Funny face.

Lazily rolling around on the floor near the end of the party and before a quick nap.

Grace absolutely love this bead lacing kit.

A hug for the birthday girl.

Almost playing a game of Chutes and Ladders with Jeff.

An ed of the day book with PaPa.

Such a good time with the drawing pad (and of course, Jeff).

Grace had a wonderful birthday party and we feel so lucky to have the dozens of friends and family who came to celebrate with us today. We also feel fortunate because this afternoon we found out that Grace had been accepted at our preferred preschool -- what a relief! Today was exhausting and fantastic.