Hazel's 6th Birthday Party

 

And, just like that, we've got a 6 year old!  This past weekend we celebrated Hazel's sixth birthday with her first kid party and, surprisingly, we even had some of her school friends join us. Just a few months back we received our first party invite from school for Hazel and I was so excited to see that families were ready to start doing events like this again.  I've mourned for Hazel this whole year, being that her Kindergarten experience was so very different than we'd have wanted it to be.  I just kept telling her that it's not always like this - that someday soon things will be different and she'll be able to play tag with her friends and use balls and bats and scooters and actually see all her little friends faces...and ride a bus and eat lunch in the lunch room and rotate classrooms for things like art and music and computer.  

Ok - enough about COVID Kindergarten, that's not what this post is about...it's about the sweet little party we had for Hazel at the bowling alley followed by family and close friends back at the house for what was a planned pool party that got mostly rained out.  Above you can see the adorable little bunny cake that Erin picked up for Hazel.  She started getting small cakes like this vs. the cupcakes Ellyn started years ago because this way we can all have a little bit.

More than anything, Hazel wanted an "Uliv Bune" for her birthday (alive bunny). And, well, we're just not there right now.  Maybe someday when we figure out how to get a year round outdoor hutch I'll bite on this request, but for now I hope the bunny cakes and sweet bunny stuffed animals and bunny dresses will suffice.  

I just love this picture so much!!  Looking back on the crazy wild year 2020 was, there is something so heartwarming about seeing a little kid blow out their birthday candles with all their might!

It wasn't quite warm enough for anyone to swim (except Stella) but the kids loved the water balloon fight the daddy's hosted!  

And, let's not forget about Auntie's gift, which was a trip to Build A Bear for both girls.  They picked matching unicorn's and these boxes were the highlight of the last few days.  They've been coloring and decorating them since Sunday.