¡Una Fiesta! {4th Birthday Dora Party}

How is it possible that Ellie has really turned 4?! For her birthday breakfast she chose crepes. I was so thankful that Jeremiah was happy to make them since I was up late working on party stuff!

After her delicious birthday breakfast it was time to get ready for preschool! She was excited to be able to take the snack on her birthday. She took handisnack breadsticks & cheese, and these ice cream cake cupcakes (love!).

Ellie hadn't ever had a friend party before. She was SO excited about the party planned for after preschool! Ellie's first choice for a bday party was a baby doll tea party. Can you imagine how adorable that would be?! But since one of her 2 bff's is a BOY I just couldn't do a baby doll tea party. Enter the Dora Party.

(I made the printed invitations from this digital/printable set from Shery K Designs. I made the Backpack & Map based off of other ideas I saw online. All of the other party printables are from Cuties Parties. It was so much easier printing & cutting than buying a million pieces of cardstock & piecing everything. And she even customized the colors for me!)

For lunch we had Tico's taquitos & Tico's tacos (mini tacos), Boots' bananas, Dora yogurt, Backpack juice boxes, & water. I was going to make cute little signs for the food, but since everyone was in preschool & not yet readers I crossed that one off my list!

After lunch we decorated mini maracas! They were so stinkin' cute! I got them from Oriental Trading and they were 5" tiny & so so cute! I didn't want to deal with paint so the kids colored them with dollar store markers & decorated them with small Dora stickers and some stick-on rhinestones & little bling flowers. They loved doing this craft/activity!

After the maracas I read them the beginning of Dora's Birthday Surprise. In the book Dora has to go on a scavenger hunt to look for clues that will lead her to a birthday surprise. I substituted Ellie's name & some other words to let them know they were going on a scavenger hunt to find clues for a surprise. They loved this! They all knew that we needed the Map's help so we'd know which way to go (I made the map with posterboard & chalk pastels). Their first stop was Troll Bridge- construction paper taped across the sidewalk in the backyard with the Grumpy Old Troll guarding the way. They had to solve a riddle about birthday cake (I took it straight out of Dora's Birthday Surprise), and then I let them cross the "bridge" and I gave them their first clue - a blindfold (scarf). Next was Musical Falls- we have a couple of rock fountains in our backyard. They had to look under river rocks until they found the one with the pink star on it. The clue for that stop was a bat. The third place they had to go was Star Mountain- our playset. They had to climb to the top of Star Mountain & bring down an Explorer Star for the final clue- a couple pieces of candy.

With all 3 clues they guessed that the surprise was a pinata. They were all very excited! It was hilarious watching some of the kids try to hit the pinata. Almost half of them only used one hand to hold the bat & swing! :) Everyone got a turn & then we let Ellie have a few extra whacks & that was it. I'd completely forgotten to bring out the Dora goody bags that I'd planned on having them collect their candy in so they were all trying to hold as many pieces in their hands & shirts as they could until I got them their bags. :)

Next we did presents, then cake & ice cream. Jeremiah was super proud of me because I ordered a cake (from Victoria at the hospital bakery)! I've always made my kids' cakes & it killed me just a little bit at first to order a cake, but I'm so glad I did!

Ellie was utterly spoiled with the presents her friends gave her! She loves every single thing she received & has spent lots of time playing & coloring this past week.

I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of the goody bags I made! I tried & tried to find small lavender gift bags online & it was a total fail. Unless I wanted to buy them in bulk (and when I say bulk I mean by the hundreds & thousands!). Instead I used brown paper sacks, folded them down around halfway, and glued a purple piece of cardstock to the front & then added Backpack's face, just like on the juice boxes (which were my sister Tara's idea). Here's the goodies the bags were filled with:

Star Jelly Bracelets - Oriental Trading; Fiesta Donkey toys - Oriental Trading; Dora pin back buttons - Love Bug Buttons; Dora snack containers - Target Dollar Spot; (they were filled with Dora fruit snacks); Play-Doh; Bubbles; Dora dress-up stickers - eBay; Dora pencils - eBay

Ellie loved her Dora the Explorer party! We rounded off the day with her favorite dinner - pasta carbonara. Both sets of grandparents were here for bday dinner. We're very fortunate to have them here. It was awesome having my mom's help before & during the party!!! Anyway Ellie got more presents & we had more ice cream cake cupcakes for her family party dessert. I don't think a 4 year old could have asked for a more perfect birthday!

I love you Ellie!!!
xoxoxoxo