"Best Day Ever!"

Sometime around July of every year Anna sets her mind on what kind of birthday party she wants. This year she decided it HAD to be a "Tangled" Rapunzel party. My mind started racing with all the possibilities and it was soon decided that this year's party also had to be much smaller than last year's Pancakes and Pajamas party.  I still hadn't quite recovered from that one!

As happens every year, I have grand plans and then as the holidays and her birthday close in on me many of those plans don't end up quite making it into the party. Plus this year it was threatening to rain so many of the outside decorations didn't end up being put up. This is why I usually don't tell her much about what I'm planning. 

One of the fun things about having a smaller party was that we got to hand deliver our invitations which made for some fun surprises for Anna's friends. We decided to focus the party on the theme of the lanterns which in the movie are released every year in the Kingdom to mark the missing princess' birthday. We made lanterns with an insert that held the party details and set them with a battery powered candle on Anna's friends' doorsteps after dark. We then texted or called the mom as we left and had the kids open the door to find the lantern. Super fun! And it was also really fun to hear about the kids' reactions. One of Anna's friends even took it to school the next day for sharing!

Also in July, Anna decided that she really needed to have a Rapunzel dress for the occasion. We let Nana and Papa know about this necessity and they came through with delivery of a Rapunzel dress that she opened the morning of the party. 

 Posing with Rapunzel 

The photos below are for those friends of mine who are interested in "the details" ;) You know who you are....

Front door

Rapunzel Party Hats for decorating

Pascal (a gift from Andrew)

Banner with the symbol of the "Kingdom of Corona"

Lanterns, lanterns EVERYWHERE!

The cake... I won't tell you how long I spent making this tower. Let's just say it was way too long. Upon seeing it the Birthday Girl thanked me by saying "But Mom! I wanted the tower to be made of cake!" She's lucky she didn't end up wearing the cake :)

The Movie Room

For those not familiar with the move, no I did not run out of serving dishes. The frying pan is used by Rapunzel to defend herself against the thief Flynn Rider.

Now onto the fun! Our little princesses mesmerized by the movie.

The Royal Feast

After dinner we headed outside to release the famous lanterns. In the movie they release beautiful paper lanterns fueled by a flame. Turns out that's frowned upon around here so we did the best we could and released white balloons with lights inside.  We tied them down and then released them while blasting the neighbors with the music that plays during the lantern release in the movie. Well, most were tied down - one got away - and some flew higher than others. But overall the kids seemed to have fun with it!

We came back in for cake - the best part of any party!

Defending herself with her frying pan (aka cake plate)

Anna's guests went home with some watercolors, paper and a frame so they could paint their own works of art (Rapunzel paints endless murals while locked up in her tower).

Everyone had a great time and apparently even Anna's elf made a new friend!

Photos of Anna's actual birthday to follow!