Emory's 5th Birthday

Super late, but nonetheless important; Emory had her first friend Birthday Party a few days before we moved. (Cory and I decided long ago that we'd only do friend parties on the big numbers - 5, 8, 12, 16 - I don't know how we decided the numbers, but there ya have it. We had an Ice Cream theme and a ton of fun. Thank you to my amazing friend Amanda for taking the pictures, as I was trying to keep the party going with some kind of organization! We started off decorating Soda Jerk hats, while we waited for everyone to arrive. Then we had a Neapolitan relay with a chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry teams. Each team had to run the relay while balancing a giant pom pom (pink for strawberry, white for vanilla, etc.) on a sugar cone. Most kids just enjoyed eating their cones, like cute cousin Ike! Next was Pin the Cherry on the Sundae. Tessa actually got very close. Then they played Ice Cream, Ice Cream, Scoop or Duck, Duck, Goose, while we got the Homemade Ice Cream in a Bag ready. This was a really good idea, but 5 year old arms were not up for the shaking required, so it was a good thing I bought a tub! The Ice Cream in a Bag is a really fun and tasty thing to do, though, and I'd totally recommend giving it a try as a science experiment for the summer. Then is was Cake and Ice Cream with all the fixings. (I totally didn't supervise the topping table, and glanced around to find kids with mountains of mini M&Ms and maybe a tablespoon of ice cream underneath.) Whatever! We miss these boys almost as much as our family! The Ice Cream Pinata was decimated by a little girl who is definitely an aspiring soft ball champ. Even Cory was impressed. Present time and then a little impromptu Ice Cream Mambo and we were done. Clearly I was more excited about the presents than Em. It was a ton on work, but she had a great time and that's all that mattered.