Smith Family Adventure: November 2009

When we were in Colorado this summer Evie found a Candy Land birthday cake in a cooking magazine we bought for her. She looked at the cake everyday and asked for a Candy Land birthday party when she turns 4 years old. We decided to have a birthday party for the kids before we leave for Taiwan since they will have their birthday's while we're gone.

We collected large cardboard appliance boxes and started constructing Candy Land...

The idea and project kept growing and growing...

The entrance to the gingerbread house

Ethan chilling on a paint can eating a box of raisins. Sporting his new look...

Cheese

We used old paint from different house projects to bring Candy Land to life. This is the entrance to the gingerbread house.

This tunnel was decorated with hanging icicles and snow as it led to Princess Frostine's castle

Princess Frostine's castle was decorated like winter with snow flakes

We wrapped flat Christmas ornaments to look like candy and hung them from the roof. Since stores put Christmas decorations on the shelves the day after Halloween now instead of Thanksgiving we were able to get some decorations like the letters for Candy Land and fake snow, etc.

This room isn't finished being decorated but it was decorated to be the Peppermint Forest room.

Evie is happy to be helping decorate the cake. She opened a lot of starburst to use as the path

As a time saver I ordered the cake above so we could just simply decorate it

Yes, that's a lot of candy...

And let the party begin...Delphina, Claudia, Grandma and Evie

Grandma and Ethan

Dinner time...Gabriel, Delphina and Maddie

Clare and Morgan. Joel hung Christmas lights inside the tunnel.

Isaiah

Our friends Clarke, Sarah and Jennifer

Jeremy, me and Joel

Ethan and Clare

Maddie

Claudia

Morgan

Aubrey who is expecting their baby girl on February 27th and my dad who is packing a pillow and looks like he is due any day

Opening gifts

Evie giving her friend Cate a hug after opening her gift

Ethan's new Thomas the Train set from grandma and grandpa. It makes music when you push a button which has Ethan's total attention

Ethan and Maddie

Ethan hugging his Train set - thanks grandma and grandpa, he loves it!

It's cake time!!!

Delphina being a little puppy at Mandy's feet. Mandy took these pictures as we opened the gifts and cut the cake. Thanks Mandy.

The kids are patiently waiting to cut the cake. They are all picking their piece...the one with the most candy of course.

Happy birthday to Evie and Ethan, happy birthday to you

Ethan making his wish...

Evie making her wish. She said her wish was to have cake.

Ethan had to put his finger in the cake - it was just too tempting

Evie chose the piece that was gumdrop pass. She basically ate just the gumdrops off the top and left the cake

Evie's friend Cate

Delphina, Maddie, Morgan and Clare

Joel and Mandy

Jeremy and Aubrey

Ethan had no problem finishing his cake and ice cream (I did scrape the candy off his) and then followed the kids around trying to eat theirs.

A fun way to end the party. Grandma and Grandpa buy the kids pajamas every year. It's fun for the kids and the picture makes a great Christmas card. Since we will be in Cali for Thanksgiving this year mom brought the jammies to give the kids at the party. They all had so much fun running around in their matching jammies.

Well it's late and the kids are coming off their sugar rush. We need to get them in bed before meltdowns happen. Evie came out of the tunnel saying daddy was trying to get her. I'l have to say that his onrey smile does make him look a bit guilty...