poppy and the forest party

last month my little baby girl turned six.

there is something about six that seems so grown up all of a sudden... five is still little but, six. well six is a big, school girl with ideas and thoughts of her own {she has actually always had these}

so i asked her if she would like a party and if she would like to invite some friends along. she had a good think about it and chose five friends from school and two of her 'life long' friends {from a new mums breastfeeding group, six years ago}
she chose a party in the woods!
hurrah! no soft plays, no party in the house... a woodland party!

i immediately got on to pinterest for ideas and scouted the local area for suitable woods.

i found the perfect spot ~ blinkbonnywood.  it was about a 30minute drive away so a bit of a trek but it was definitely worth it...

for activities {not that a group of under 6s needed any encouragement to get exploring!} i gave them all mini clip boards with a scavenger hunt colouring in page. i tied a wooden coloured pencil to it with twine and gave them all a wee bug pot and water canister and sent them out into the woods! they also had the added incentive of finding hidden kinder eggs! we had planned to build a den too but we ran out of time {the rain came on} dressed in full waterproofs and wellies, the kids had a great time, despite the drizzle... we had second thoughts the night before while looking at the forecast. but this shows that outdoors is just great for kids regardless of the weather!

the men folk got a fire going and cooked up some sausages and burgers for lunch... we also had fruit kebabs, tortilla chips, boxes of raisins and of course... toasted marshmallows.... yum.

...the cake is going to get a blog post all of it's very own!

a four year old turning five

my baby girl is five. five.

five.

i can't believe it. where did all that time go? i miss that tiny newborn face, those tiny fingers and toes. i miss the feeds late at night and in the early morning all snuggled in bed together half asleep. i miss her little feet pushing up to standing and learning to walk. her first shoes. her first words.  she had so many words.
i can barely remember her little voice when she first started having conversations.

she is still the same little girl, i can see it in her eyes. in the way she still holds her rabbit close at night and the way she reaches for my hand when she feels insecure.

we had to have a birthday party for her of course! and we had to let her choose who to invite... and what theme to have... and what kind of a cake she would like...

we had a jungle adventure

safari passes and binoculars for all the guests, jungle themed snacks, a monkey pinata and animal party jars filled with home made lego crayons to take home. {i will do a how to post soon!}

it was a lovely day and we all had a great time ~ even daddy admitted that it went really well!

success.