Sofia's Birthday Party

On Saturday July 30th we celebrated Sofia's birthday with her friends at Sunbelt Gymnastics. We'd considered hosting another pool party this year, but figured it would be horribly hot (it was) and being pregnant and setting and cleaning up a party sounded pretty exhausting to me. Sunbelt ended up being such a great decision because the ladies who ran the event literally took care of everything for us! Of course, I'd decided to make a chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting from scratch and so that was the hardest part of the entire day. Thankfully, CK helped by making the frosting and frosting the cakes - we made two since we were afraid we wouldn't have enough for the 17 kids and parents expected. It was fun to bake and assemble the cakes and then decorate them for her big day. Sofia loves ladybugs and so I found a red VW bug and painted it with black nail polish so it looked like a lady bug. Then I added chocolate rocks and licorice sticks as a road for the ladybug car. I also had a "Happy 4th Birthday, Sofia" sign held by a ladybug on the other cake. It turned out cute and also tasted pretty good.

Grandpa Joe and CK headed out to get Sofia's birthday balloons while Sofia and I went to Sunbelt to set up. Sofia's friends arrived and the kids were taken onto the gymnastics floor while the parents were sent upstairs to the observation room that was set up as the party. It was great! The parents were able to socialize upstairs and watch while the kids were led by four instructors (in two groups) through the gymnastics. Several of my friends have new infants and they were so happy not to have to chase after their older kids at the party. It really was a fun event for the parents too.

The gymnastics lasted over an hour, at which point the instructors led the kids upstairs to the birthday tables. We sang "Happy Birthday" to Sofia, she blew out her candles - by herself! - and then everyone was handed a piece of cake and a drink. After Sofia was done with her cake, the instructors pulled her into the center of the room and she started opening gifts. We'd debated whether she should open presents at the party or at home, since she really enjoys opening and playing with each present, but we're glad we did it at the party since she had so many gifts and it was great to get them opened! It would literally have taken days at home. The best part was that CK and I only had to take pictures and enjoy the party! After the presents were open, we thanked all of our guests and headed home. It was a great birthday party!

Frosting the cake - Sofia's a huge help cleaning the beater, of course!


Yum!


Opening her present from Aunt Cynthia, Uncle Jay, Chandler and Jillian!


Setting up and playing with her new kitchen from Grandma and Grandpa! She loves the phone attached to the side!


Looking at her cake - she hadn't seen the decorations yet.


The fun begins!


Weee! Sofia LOVED this!


The Ladybug car


The "Happy 4th Birthday, Sofia" cake


Making a wish!


The party in full swing


The Happy Birthday gal!


Opening presents


and even more presents....


The group photo


Eating BBQ that night with Grandpa Joe and Papa at the Hart 8 BBQ - delicious!