A Paris Birthday Party

Macaroon "lollipops".

At the end of October, Gabby celebrated her 4th birthday.  Since she goes to a French school, she decided she wanted a Paris-themed birthday party.  (This also happened to be more fun for mom to plan than the Dora-themed party that she had previously considered.)

Instead of traditional cupcakes this year, I made pretend macaroons by cutting of the tops off two mini cupcakes and putting frosting in between them.  We also enjoyed croissant sandwiches, quiche, crepes and madeleines.

The decor was easy since all I had to do was pull out relics from my time living in Paris.  Gabby had also used pink & gray colors for a previous birthday party, so I was glad that we kept things like her pom-pom decorations.

It was supposed to be a fancy parisian lunch, so when the kids arrived, the girls received a necklace and a ring and the boys received a bow tie.  They also had to use a passport to enter France.  The passports I made had stickers inside and I had intended for them to use them at each activity, but we pretty much forgot about them.  For games, the kids went to the Louvre and colored the Mona Lisa and did some random chicken toss into a boat on the Sienne.

They also played "Pin the Tourist on the Eiffel Tower", a game that I may have invented myself the night before.

I did feel a little bad when Gabby blew out her candles.  They were out for a moment and then relit themselves.  Oops - I bought trick candles on accident!  Who does that to a four-year-old?

Gift time was a little crazy with 18 children at her party.  They all crowded around in excitement.

Gabby had a great time celebrating with all of her friends.

One behind-the-scenes helper that saved me was "Aunt" Jen.  She thought she was coming as a guest to Gabby's party, but she ended up running half of it.  Thanks, Jen!

The kids all went home with a box of goodies and little toys, including some Euro chocolate coins and some other French specialties that I found at World Market.  The box was topped off with a (real) macaroon cookie from a local French bakery that I put on a stick to look like a lollipop.  The ribbon says, "Ooh La La" - a fun find.  Merci to all who joined us!

Since the party was the day of Gabby's actual birthday, we opened family gifts that night.  Her favorites were a Hello Kitty watch and a Dream Light from Claire.