A Planes Party Starring Pilot Eli and His Crop Duster, Dusty

This tough guy pilot just turned 4!

I am still trying to figure out how this happened so fast.

As most of you know, we like to do birthdays big around here.  Every time, I say I am going to go low-key, and every time, I fail miserably.  But hey, there is nothing I'd rather fail at than doing TOO much to make my kids feel special and celebrated on their birthdays ;)

Eli decided on a Planes theme a couple of months back.  (He also has the next 5 years of themes lined up. LOL) Because the movie came out fairly recently, I immediately thought of having an outdoor movie night.  Our wonderful church has a block party trailer stocked with everything you need for an outdoor movie night, and they allow church members to rent the trailer for special occasions.  I was so excited to hear it was available for the date we had chosen!

Ok, first things first, we had to make a cute invitation.  I found this idea on Pinterest and had to create one of my own!

Next, I had to come up with a food list.  I always like to come up with fun names incorporating the characters from the movie.  I think "Ripslinger's Contrail Mix" might be my favorite!  These are the things that excite me, people.

I decided to make only cupcakes this time, so I was so excited to find these ADORABLE printable cupcake kits at shnookers.com !

They were a big hit with the kids!

Everything came together quite nicely.  And who is up there flying dusty?

Just the fiercest pilot around….Pilot Eli!!!  He was totally pumped to see his himself up there flying Dusty.  I loved seeing his excitement :)

My super awesome mom also made this amazing Dusty plane, so every guest could have a chance to be Dusty's pilot.  

Those are some GOOD LOOKIN' Pilots!!!

The decor included a painting by Eli and his favorite Dusty toys.

And each guest got to take home a kite, so they could continue soaring with Dusty even after the party.

The festivities included bounce houses and a some fun indoor activities, as well.

 (There could be a bright future for these two ;) )

After presents, it was finally time for our feature presentation, but first a safety speech: 

Disclaimer: This is not me.  Just a girl who looks EXACTLY like me.  Because, clearly this girl is a huge nerd, and we all know that I am definitely not a nerd. Ha!  I hope you get a good laugh :)

Oh lookie there.  I finally spotted my wonderful hubby in a picture.  He was a trooper getting everything set up the whole time!

Lots of tired kids = success!

A very special thanks to my amazing mom who always does SO much to help (even when she is feeling under the weather)!!!

A Fancy Nancy Soiree!

Because we went to Disney World this year, I had planned to have low-key birthday celebrations.  However, Landry had a very different scenario in her head.  She had been planning her birthday celebration months in advance.  She had even made her own birthday hat.  The day the Oriental Trading catalogue came in the mail, she had her tongue out and a pin in her hand circling everything she could possibly need or want for her birthday party.  She also had a guest list a mile long, an extravagant cake picked out, and lots of plans for food and decor.  I thought to myself, "Oh No!  I have created a BIRTHDAYZILLA!"  Obviously, I should have started the low-key celebrations when she was two!

I decided to meet her somewhere in the middle, so not to destroy all the creative brain power she had been employing.

First we had to decide on a theme.  We began with Tinker Bell, then it evolved into fairy/princess, but as we were reading Landry's very favorite book, we realized that there was one theme that could not be more fitting for her……FANCY NANCY!!!!  We would call it "Fancy Lancy", a nickname my mom had given her.

 If you are not familiar with Fancy Nancy, this is her:

And this is Fancy Lancy:

Fancy Nancy:

Fancy Lancy:

If you know my daughter at all, or if you have just seen pictures of her, you know that she specializes in being fancy.  

After all, she has been making herself "fancy" most of her life.  These are from when she was two-years-old.

Fancy Nancy also likes to make her bedroom fancy...

...as does Fancy Lancy.

And she is all about making her own accessories!!

Ok, so I think you get my drift.  

We sent out a handful of invitations 

And then got to work thinking of all things fancy.  I'll admit, I was a little limited on time, so I was determined not to go overboard.  But I had one stroke of genius, and I just HAD to make sure it played out.  

What was that stroke of genius, you ask?

To turn the food table into Fancy Nancy's Bed!!!  Get a couple of brooms and sheets and voila! 

Ha!  Not so much.  

I am an extreme optimist and I often do not think things through completely. ( Just ask my husband) At midnight, when we decided to attempt this bed/table thingy, I quickly realized, it was not going to be easy as I had envisioned.  But wait, it HAD to work.  The cakes looked like pillows.  How silly to have pillow cakes with no bed!  

Thankfully, my mom was there to save the day.  And we did, in fact, end up with a Fancy Nancy Bed :)

We added a few Fancy decorations on the wall

We also had fancy names for the food….

 …..and for the guests.

And because I can never seem to get everything done on time, I was SO thankful for family who were willing to pitch in and help!

 

Table set and remaining decor set up just in time for the guests to arrive.

The guests arrived in style!  I had never seen so many beautiful princesses!

They quickly lined up for makeup

And added a few extra accessories

Even Poppy got fancy.  He was such a good sport, letting one of the little girls accessorize him.

That is one Posh Poppy!!

Tea and snack time!

 Pinkies up everyone...

 or thumbs. LOL

 And a little game of Freeze Dance at Fancy Lancy's Ballerina Ballroom

 Next up, cake and parfaits

Then I elected Mrs. Shannon to read a Fancy Nancy book.

She is a wonderful story teller!  She had them all mesmerized, as you can see.

 And finally it was time for presents!!

And what do you do when your best friend completely gets the time wrong for your daughter's birthday party, and doesn't show up till the very end?

You let her have it!

Just kidding!!!  You just have another party!  Why not?