Rapunzel Party

 My friend Amber helped to created this adorable picture for Madelyn's birthday invitation. It really did set the scene for the party.

We weren't sure Madelyn's 4th birthday party would ever get here.  Since we took a surprise trip to Disneyland during her birthday, we scheduled the party for February 25th, a couple weeks after her actual birthday. Unfortunately, Madelyn came down with strep the night before her party, and we had to postpone it. She has a knack for getting sick before our parties, but it actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise because more of her friends could come on the new day.

Chris and I had fun decorating for the "Tangled" theme. We worked on the decorations after Madelyn went to bed so she could wake up to a little surprise. We hung some Flynn Rider "Wanted" signs, a Happy Birthday banner with a few of her 4-year pics, and some paper lanterns. This was Madelyn's favorite part when she woke to find them all hanging from the ceiling. :)

Well, it was her favorite part until Grammy showed up with her tower cake. She was so very excited to see it because she and Grammy had been talking and planning it out for weeks!

 

Grammy also made some delicious homemade lemonade (picked right from their lemon tree), and some adorable Jell-O boat cups that looked like they were plucked right from a scene in Tangled. 

Altogether Madelyn had eight friends come to her party... seven little princesses...and one prince charming. ;)

Preschool Friends

Dance Friends

Prince Charming

We planned a few crafts and one game for the kids to do while they were here. Although, as I told one of the moms, we really could have just let them play with Madelyn's toys. They enjoyed the crafts, but had just as much fun running around the house and playing in Madelyn's room. ;)

Princess Crowns

Painted Lanterns

Tangled Coloring Pages

Pin the Frying Pan on Flynn Rider

Chris did a great job with this poster for the game!

I think my favorite part of the afternoon was the impromptu dancing. We setup the AppleTV to show our Disneyland pictures, and had all sorts of Disney music playing in the background. The girls quickly gathered and started dancing, and Zach eventually joined in with some serious hip-hop break-dancing. :)

And of course, there was cake and ice cream....

 If you remember the blog post from Madelyn's first birthday, 

you'll notice that Zach has continued his cupcake-eating rituals. ;)

And what's a birthday party without a few presents? Madelyn's friends sure do know her well! Every gift was something she loved (and today is proof of that because she has successfully played with each and every thing since the moment she woke up).

Zach put the cutest picture in Madelyn's card, and proudly announced, 

"I drew a picture of me hugging you Madelyn!"

We made some homemade treat boxes, and Madelyn had fun at Party City picking out what to put in them. Filling the boxes was a fun activity for Madelyn and I one evening after school. 

Auntie Kim topped the birthday treats with her handmade crayon rolls. These turned out so cute!

I'd say the party definitely was a success, and everyone had fun. I am however, happy it has all come to an end. It's seems like this particular birthday was running on Energizer batteries.... it kept going and going...........and going. Now we can start to focus on some spring trips, and very soon...camping! YIPPEE!