Athena's 7th Birthday Sleepover!

For Athena's 7th birthday party (I know, right, seven!) she wanted nothing more than a sleepover. Even though she has yet to sleepover anywhere herself (other than family) this was what she wanted more than anything else...even Disneyland. And since popcorn and cupcakes are a whole lot cheaper than the House of Mouse, I happily agreed.

For the first time I was able to keep the guest list small and resisted my impulse to invite everyone. No more than five friends we agreed, just our favorite friends, and with Zoe and Athena that made seven little girls in all.

At first she wanted to invite boys too. Her second best friend, next to Amelia, is Wyatt after all. She didn't get why boys weren't allowed at a girls sleepover. Girls only, we said. So even Jack and Chris got out of there after this picture.

They were so sweet when they all sat down to a table of subway sandwiches, cheese puffs and juice boxes. You could really see their personalities come out as they chatted back and forth telling jokes and trying to make each other laugh.

I told them I wanted to keep every one of them and live in a house of seven girls. Amelia agreed that this was a great idea and that we should send Jack to live with her brother.

I was so proud of my Zoe, holding her own with the big girls. She kept pace with every one of them. I resisted inviting one of her friends so that she wouldn't feel left out. And she never did, not for one minute, she was an honorary seven year old.

While the girls were eating I showed them the basket of scrolls that each held a fun activity idea, "Oh" said Vanessa, "Sort of like a 'To Do' list." Exactly, I said, when you tire of one activity you can pick a scroll for the next one.

Athena got to pick the first scroll, which I think was Flashlight Hide and Seek. Following that was Nail Salon. Then...

Pillow Case races! And...

XBox Disney (Thanks, Baba!)

And a Pillow Fight!


a quiet game of Hello Kitty Bingo

and just simply throwing confetti. Seriously, if you ever find yourself in a house with seven little girls (and you don't mind sweeping) you've got to get yourself a bag of confetti.

I laughed so hard at their pure joy.

Eventually we made our way to cupcakes in a jar and candles...

That's right, I said "cupcakes in a jar"...they were delish!

Especially with the pink milk!

Athena's friend Vanessa shares the exact same birthday,
so we all sang "Happy Birthday Cha Cha Cha" to her as well.

Finally presents were opened...

and then played with in the girls room.

Around 9 o'clock we settled them down with a movie, and then tucked them into their sleeping bags on the living room floor around 10:30. They wiggled and giggled until I fell asleep around 11:30 and a couple of them stayed up even later than that (i.e. Athena and Amelia). And then wouldn't you know, we heard giggling at 6:15 the next morning.

See the thing about sleepovers is that they keep on going, and are still going on in the morning. We woke to an early am balloon fight. Oh to have that energy before coffee.

After a couple of iCarlys, we sat down to breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls, fresh fruit and eggs. Plus more pink milk.

Then the girls all got dressed, gathered their stuff and played outside until the Moms and Dads came to pick them up one by one. It was exhausting but so much fun! Even I had fun.