Avalanche party

Avalanche

Little Miss was invited to an Avalanche party on Saturday! It was a real treat, and it was lots of fun!
It is especially nice for the older kids, but I have heard of toddlers going to these parties as well. (I presume they would not let them go down from the top?)

Avalanche party pinata 

Little Miss struggled with a bit of vertigo in the beginning, but to the end of the two hours she went down again, and again...



I love party ideas that's not at home, but where the kids get to do fun activities!

A birthday party at the Spur - recommended!

Party girls

Little Miss always has a late December birthday, and usually no one of her school friends are around.

We decided on a whim to invite a few of her school friends to Wild Falcon Spur at Heathway (Blackheath) on Saturday. It's a relative new Spur with a very nice playground, and a very high slide which Little Miss took a while to conquer. (The "beast")

We had a lovely relaxed time with the birthday meals for the kids, and platters for the adults. I only had to make the reservations! My favourite kind of party!

Fairy cake
(Cake from the Home Industry, and Fairy from Disney)

Party girls / "Leopards"

Party girls

The children had a lovely time playing and getting their faces painted.

It was especially lovely to walk away on Saturday afternoon without having to do anything! (Except paying, of course!)

I can highly recommend this if you want to have a stress-free party. You can also bring all your party goodies and cakes if you want to make it extra special!

This post is not sponsored! 
We had a very good experience!

Frozen still huge here

How cute is this party bottle "Melted snow"

Little Miss does not get tired of Frozen and everything that goes with it. Her friends share her enthusiasm, because she has attended two Frozen parties in the past month.

Little Miss also loves singing "Let it go!"



(I have to save this. It is very precious!)

Movie Clip Monday #30 - Hot Wheels Party

Little Missy was invited to a Hot Wheels Party yesterday. They had so much fun driving the little cars.

Say "chappies"

Hot Wheels' cupcakes

Isabella's - I will be back for the cappuccinos

Isabella's

I was invited to a Kitchen Tea at Isabella's Cake & Food Shop in Waterkloof a while back. It was the first time I noticed these stores. I love the interior of the stores.

We did a lunch at the Isabella's in Northcliff on Friday as well, and it was an experience. I can recommend the toasted bagel with crumbed chicken and my friend had one of their lovely quiches with a salad. That was more than enough food...

Mad Hatter's at Isabella's in Waterkloof

But... I am not impressed with the High Tea packages on offer. The "Mad Hatter's party" was beautifully presented, but I was feeling that we could have gotten more for what we had to pay.
For R140 I was expecting a buffet, and we only got: (Copying and pasting from the menu)
"Strawberry Spritzer
Coronation Prawn & Cucumber Sandwich
Mad Hatter Cupcake
Mini Quiche per person
Mini Salmon & Cucumber Bruschetta, topped with Wasabi Mayo & Caviar
Scone with Strawberry Jam & Cream
Glass of Bubbly"

Luckily the Bride-to-Be loved it, and that's all that matters!

Isabella's Mad Hatters (Instagram)

Isabella's Northcliff

Isabella's Northcliff

I will definitely be back for their cappuccinos! They are great!
(That's my standard of excellence! If they make a great cappuccino, they make it in my book!)

And they have a great children's menu that we have to try out as well...

Wordless Wednesday #215 - Zip Line Slide at Granny's Garden

Children's party at Granny's Garden

Little Missy was invited to a party at Granny's Garden.

It is the perfect venue for a party. They have inside and outside entertainment for the children. The entire house has been transformed into a children's paradise.

The indoor play area consists of a Sand Room, Computer Room, Dress up Room, Fantasy Room, Nintendo Wii, Beach Sand Room, Arts & Crafts and Pottery Painting.

Dress Up Room

Bunnies

Snow White

The outdoor play area has the following on offer: Zip Line Slide, Bike Track, Trampoline, Play House, Jungle Gym, Modular Play Area and swings.

The zip line slide was the most popular with every one sliding again and again...

Gif from Granny's Garden

The best of course was having a nice cup of coffee while other people were busy running around after the children...
Definitely a parent's paradise!

iCarly's Spaghetti Tacos are great for children's parties

Last Saturday we were invited to a 7-year old party where the requested food was Spaghetti Tacos, as was demonstrated on iCarly.

We were all a bit taken aback by the strange combination, but it was surprisingly good.
The children loved it, of course!

It is also not that difficult to prepare to put together:

Spaghetti Tacos

Ingredients: 

(quantities depending on number of party goers – 1 Taco for each child, and up to 3 for the adults)

spaghetti

beef mince

freshly prepared tomato and onion sauce

corn taco shells

grated cheddar cheese

guacamole

Directions:

Prepare spaghetti.

Prepare mince with seasoning, but not too spicy for the children.

Prepare tomato sauce with fresh chopped tomatoes and onions and seasoning.

Prepare guacamole with extra chillies kept separate for the adults.

Put all the prepared ingredients on the table, and party-goers assembly their own tacos.

Warning: Prone to breaking and spillage! (Keep the serviettes close-by!)

There is another version of a Hungry Spaghetti Tacos recipe on the iCarly Wiki. 

It is worth a try! And a re-try!

 

Dancing into the New Year!

We had the pleasure to be invited to a New Year's party with a theme: AA.

It was a definitely a great way to start a New Year with dancing and joy! 

Anthony & Cleopatra, an Arabian Prince and Aurora (Little Missy)
on the dance floor with the balloons

The balloons kept Little Missy for the whole evening. She was gathering them up, and letting them go. Again and again!
And some she was allowed to let go into the air...

Aviator, Athena and Aurora

I was planning to be an Archivist with an Attitude, and got a lot of temporary tattoos, but in the end went as Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, war and crafts. It was easier to drape a pashima over my shoulder than to be "myself". (Joking! But it would have been boring.)

Little Missy and her dad got very enthusiastic with the theme when they saw all the great masks in the shop. She also had to have the alien mask!

Alien Aurora

Alien Aviator

The hosts for the evening: Anthony & Cleopatra

Little Missy loved my Athena sword

Of course we had to end the evening with Chinese lanterns!
There were a few successes, but most came back down and gave everybody a scare when they landed near other people's residences. (Maybe not such a good idea...)

Cleopatra and an Arabian Princess

And the best of the evening! I had one glass of wine and Hubby drank non-alcoholic, so we were bright and breezy the next day!
The drive home was also not that scary with all the roadblocks... (Of course they did not pull us off! Thanks Murphy!)

This year started on a high dancing note. We have to do a bit more dancing this year!
(Especially since our 10th wedding anniversary is coming up this year... *Hint!*)


How was your New Year celebrations?

A party at the Color Café

Little Missy was invited to a party at the Color Cafe in Hyde Square.
It is such a lovely venue for a girl's party.

All set for ceramic painting

The girls started out with enthusiasm painting their fairies, but it dwindled after they realised that each colour had to be repainted three times!
That's where the mothers stepped in. (With much more enthusiasm!)
It was a lovely way to spend a Saturday morning, while the girls had a ride on their scooters and played with their balloons.

The birthday girl at the far end of the table

Ceramic painting

The colourful table

Mom's Little Missy's creation
(A kind lady from The Color Café painted in the face afterwards)

The Color Cafe

Balloons

This was a lot of fun for the girls, and Little Missy can't wait to get her painted fairy. It needs to be collected afterwards.

Finally, a Tinker Bell Party!

We pulled off a Tinker Bell Party with only a few friends.

Most of her friends are away on holiday already. (The problem of having a birthday so late in December...)

5 party packs with 5 fairy wands, and chocolate cupcakes with pink sprinkles!

That's all that was needed to have a Tinker Bell Fairy who loved feeling special for the day!

Party before the party

The upcoming birthday Birthday Girl
(photo by Teacher Fransie)

Proof! I promised that I would take party packs to school (One month to the big 4).

The Toddler was more concerned about "letters" that I should give to her. I think she wants to hand out invitations to her "real" party.
It seems it doesn't help to explain that she will be having her birthday when all her friends are on holiday. (*Shame!*)

I hoped the special fuss at school helped a little bit.

We took cupcakes with a candle and party packs for all the children in her class.
The crowns were made in class. I think the other girls with crowns are also December birthday girls. There are quite a number of them in her class!

Tinkerbell party pack 

(Photo by Teacher Fransie)

Enjoy your weekend!

One month to the big 4

She is a month away from her fourth birthday.

This Mom has lost her budget mojo for party planning.
I don't think I ever had it, and day-dreaming (hers and mine) about kid's parties does not make it happen.
I think I will phone the teacher to take party packs to school before the end of the semester which happens within two weeks.
Watch this space! (Really!)

It does not make me feel better when I see all the blog posts about wonderful children's parties with wonderful themes...
My wish is to phone up a party person and say organise. I will pay! (I hope you hear me, Universe!!)

We are going to an athletics events at her school tonight, and we are looking forward to it! It seems it has generated a lot of excitement!

Some anecdotes of  recent times:

- I went to fetch the toddler the day before yesterday at school while they were busy reading a Christmas story to them. She was crying crocodile tears because she is "shy" for Christmas Father! (I have no idea what that means!)

- Last night we signed up at our local gym. I had the prerequisite that I would only sign up if she would be happy to stay in the kiddies section. She walked in there and did not want to go again! She loved it!
(So, no excuses for me!)

- We were at our local Dischem the other day, and Mieka told me that one of her friends at school has a roll-on, and she wanted one as well. As I don't like all the baddies in the roll-ones, I sold her on a spray which I hoped we could convince her to only spray on her clothes. But she is adamant that it should go on her "kieliebakke" (roughly translated: "tickle armpits"). It is also a word we do not use. So the next morning I had to help her lift up her clothes to spray it on, and when she got to school her father had to pray it on again! Luckily the novelty wore off after a day...


The weekend is upon us!
Off to the athletics!

Enjoy yours!

Wordless Wednesday #128 - Fairy party