For Ellie's birthday this year I planned a pony theme. Cindy took us to the western store to get her some pink cowgirl boots. I found her this bandana outfit on eBay and also found cowboy hats for both her and Levi. I was really worried about the weather because we had rain all night with a forecast of more rain for today. About an hour before the party the clouds cleared out and we had perfect weather for her party.
Following with the theme, we had a pony balloon out front. I was so excited to have finally found one that matched the real pony I had arranged for! I also made up grab bags for all the kids consisting of butter-mints with a pony on the wrapper, pony stickers, farm animal tattoos, and bubbles.
Levi greeted the guests as they arrived, in his cowboy duds.
The kids were so excited to see the pony. I had arranged for Ginger the pony to join us, but she got sore feet. Thankfully it worked out for us to have Kittee bring her 1/2 sister Jasmine and she was wonderful. Thank you Kittee!
Ellie enjoyed every minute of it and asked for ride after ride.
Levi enjoyed riding also, once he got over his initial hesitation. All the kids took turns and munched on snacks of apple slices and carrot sticks.
Natalie was fearless!
After a little while Ellie was comfortable enough to ride without me holding onto her. She even trotted a couple steps!
It was so precious to see her bond with Jasmine. She was thrilled to have a pony in the backyard.
We had vegeburgers for lunch and many people contributed to the meal. It was all wonderful. I am so fortunate to have such good friends and family to help make this day special.
My friend Ruth baked and decorated the cakes and they turned out awesome!
I had planned a couple games in addition to the pony rides. One of them was a stick horse race, and at the end everyone got a sugar cube.
Jasmine was a trooper but eventually she tired out and it was time for her to go home. Ellie was glued to her all day and was sad to see her heading out.
She went back to the trailer to say one last goodbye.
After Jasmine left we ate cake and opened presents. Ellie wanted the chocolate cake. Levi chose the palomino (confetti flavor).
We played pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey and it started sprinkling. The rain had held off long enough.
It was a fun and busy day. I am glad I chose the right theme for this little girl. :) (But really, how can you go wrong with girls and horses?)
The house was painted in time for Ellie's birthday party, but it wasn't quite done at that point. The front door and some trim was still needing to be finished up. We had a lot of rain which had affected progress this spring.
