Garden Party

Kaity turned three February 8 and we had a "garden party" for her. It was a lot of fun and a great idea for the little kids. It was also one of the hottest days of February. We lucked out and the sun was shining maybe a little too brightly.

Kaity got a sandbox for her birthday which is a great addition to a children's garden. (Look for other children's garden ideas here.) This gives them a chance to play in the dirt without messing up mom's flower beds. Kim would be so proud of us - our sandbox is recycled from an old tractor tire. It fits with the look in our yard, but it definitely wouldn't fit in most people's yards.

We had about 15 kids (and additional parents and family and friends) over. To keep with the garden theme, they played in the sandbox and blew bubbles. We also decorated with pinwheels. Instead of the normal goody bag, I sent each child home with an annual flower. I know most of the flowers probably didn't even survive the weekend, but the kids loved getting a flower and the parents loved not getting candy.

The biggest hit of the party was the cake. I baked 6 8-inch circle yellow cakes. Each cake was cut in half and filled with strawberry jam. I put them altogether as a big flower, frosted with cream cheese frosting and decorated with strawberries, blueberries, and sprinkles. We'd gotten the strawberries from a fruit stand and they were wonderful. Kaity had probably eaten her weight in strawberries by the end of the day.

Here is the finished product. It was a lot of fun to make, but (talking from my own experience) make sure you have something large enough and sturdy enough to put the cake on. I forgot about this part and it made it difficult to take outside to the birthday girl.


And, here's the birthday girl blowing out her candles!