Happy 3rd Birthday!

I did not have time to blog about our birthday celebration for Leona yesterday, so I'll try to catch up now...

We have never had any big birthday celebration for either of our girls. It was always a cake and ice cream with fruit salad. Two of Ivana's birthdays we celebrated in the Czech Republic and she had a few of her Czech friends over for games and dessert. And this year I just felt somehow ambitious and wanted to have a big party for Leona, and then Ivana in August. I've been reading online getting different ideas and getting inspired. My plans included:

-picking up a theme for the party, making and sending birthday invitations a few weeks in advance;
-making a pinata with Leona and Ivana;
-have two tables full of food, one for kids and the other for the parents;
-organize various games with winning prizes for the kids;
-have two craft activities for kids to do when they get tired;
-surprise Leona with the gift and the cake in the morning right after she wakes up;
-decorate the house and backyard for the party;
-prepare goodies bags for the kids to take home.

And as the day was approaching rapidly and me not having enough time, my plans simply started to shrink...rapidly. And that's how the birthday party happened:

-I picked up a theme (it was going to be "Bugs"), but never sent the invitations, simply called on Monday and invited three families with kids for a Sunday celebration;
-Started making a pinata with the girls on Thursday. We did a first layer, took the balloon outside to let the glue dry faster, then brought it inside in the evening as it got very windy. Guess what...the law of physics, of course, the change in temperature and the balloon inside popped and the first layer of our future pinata was instantly destroyed. So, no time to start making another one, did not want to spend extra money buying one, so... no pinata.
-Decided to serve vegetarian lasagna, salad, turkey and Swiss cheese sandwiches, with some snacks beforehand, soft drinks and juice for kids, followed by chocolate and carrot cakes, and fruit salad with vanilla and chocolate ice cream.
-Did not organize any games for the kids, just pulled out bubbles, chalk, scooters, hula loops, balls. Took them for a walk to the lake and let the kids run around on the beach. Free play, ey!
-Did prepare two craft activities, but they only did one and took the other one home instead of a goody bag.
-Used the girls to help me out with the cakes (so, no surprise there, Leona had seen the cake). And did not buy the gift for her, but promised to let Tata take her to the store so that she picks a toy she would like.
-For decorations just blew a couple of balloons and hung them in the girls' room and the playroom.

And even though I did not do it "the right way" as I had planned, we still had a great time. Everybody was fed and happy. Kids had a great time and were exhausted by the end of the day. Leona enjoyed all the attention. And I did not feel overwhelmed.

So what's wrong with "my way"? I guess nothing. I need to remember about simplifying things and unloading myself a bit. Once again, less IS more...