eliza's 4th birthday

Eliza celebrated her birthday with five butterflies and five of her closest friends!! We played lots of games that all had to do with BUTTERFLIES!! Susan Eck, the queen of all children's games, came to the party with her daughter and helped me out! These are some of the things we did....

ELEFUN

WRAP THE KIDS IN THEIR COCOONS(TOWELS) AND THEN THEY COME OUT AND PRETEND TO BE BUTTERFLIES

CATERPILLAR, CATERPILLAR, BUTTERFLY(INSTEAD OF DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE)

PARACHUTE(PLASTIC LITTLE BUTTERFLIES WERE FLYING ALL OVER THE PLACE

BUTTERFLY HUNTERS(THEY HAD TO "CATCH" THE BUTTERFLIES THAT I SCATTERED ALL OVER THE BACKYARD)

In the weeks before Eliza's birthday, we watched five caterpillars go into their chrysalids and then turn into butterflies. So, although I did not plan it this way, it just happened to be a great theme for a birthday party and the kids loved the real butterflies. And, of course, you can't have a four year olds birthday in the desert heat without including "otter pops". The kids ate their otterpops and watched the butterflies in their habitat.
The birthday cake for Eliza and her friends were simple cupcakes with little butterflies on the top.


Eliza blew out candles three days in a row!! The first day with her friends. The second day in a stack of pancakes with her mom, dad, sisters, and brothers watching. And the third day she blew out candles on her birthday cake along with Uncle Brad. He celebrated his birthday only four days before Eliza. Happy Birthday Brad!!

To add a little bit more fun to opening presents, we love the tradition of hiding the presents. We hide the presents around the house. Then we play the "hot and cold" game to help the birthday girl find them. The kids think it's the greatest thing!! In this picture, Eliza is dashing over the treadmill to discover the present we hid under the blanket. The treadmill really does get used every once in a while!

We even taunted Brad by making him search for his birthday gift.