Teddy Bear Picnic - The Fun!

This post is really going to be a ton of photos!   A couple of weeks ago I did a post about the decorations.

One of my favorite parts of the party was the "puppet show" that my mom and I put on for the kids.  She read the Three Bears book while I "attempted" to act out the story with the wooden spoon puppets we made.

Lunch was in little baskets with teddy bear honey sandwiches, berries and chips.

For most of the party, the kiddos just played!  Some built a teddy bear craft, some participated in parachute play but basically, fun was had by all!!!

Teddy Bear Picnic - The Decorations

Couple of weeks ago we celebrated Madi's 2nd Birthday with a Teddy Bear Picnic!   I was a little hesitant about the theme (thought it might be a little bit "babyish") but it could not have been more appropriate for a bunch of 2 year olds!

Invitations:

I used a large matchbox and covered it with a paper that had "wood" flecks in it and had the Teddy Bear Picnic poem on the front.  You opened it up and a small bear awaited you with the invitation to the party!

It's hard to have parties in the winter time because you are limited to being inside........ but I wanted it to have a "woodsy" or park-like feel.  So, we took out some of the furniture and I gathered several fake trees to create a park-like theme.

Red/white checked blankets for the kiddos to sit on while eating their lunch.

A couple of bears were eating their lunch, too!

Bears and bear paws lined the stairs.....

Bear ears awaited each guest......

Party Favors:
Teddy Bear Picnic book and gummy bears

The Cake:

Was absolutely amazing!!!  We used Cakeheads Bakery, which we have for the last several parties.  They NEVER disappoint!!

And the birthday girl's dress.......

So.....there's the decorations!!!  I will do another post on the party itself..........come back and check it out.......you don't want to miss out seeing the puppet show that we put on for the kids!!

A Girl Goes Flying......

A few months ago, we won an auction at a fundraiser for the girl's school for a 1 hr. sightseeing flight in a C-172.  It has taken a few months to finally have the time to schedule it, but yesterday was finally the day!

You are probably wondering why 2 people who fly airplanes for a living would pay someone else to take them flying.....well, flying in a small airplane for fun is completely different than flying in a large aircraft for a living.  You have excitement for the takeoff and landing but then there is hours of sheer boredom.  I haven't been in a small airplane since 1997, when I started flying for the airlines.  For Mark, it has been since 2000.  That's a long time!!!

Taylor has been so excited to go flying!

When we got to the airport, she was just a giddy-mess!!  But, as we were walking up to the aircraft, the nervousness and shyness kicked in.

But, that was quickly replaced again with her excitement!!!

We had her sit up front so that she would have the opportunity to fly the aircraft!!  And flying is what she did!!  Seriously, the girl was a natural!  And she has nooooo fear........at all!  Her favorite thing to do was "nose the airplane over" and get the whole zero-g thing going on.  She would just giggle as she was doing it.  After doing this at one point, Mark looks over at me and says, "I can't believe our lives are in our 4 year old daughter's hands!".  :)

We had an opportunity to fly over our house, so I quickly called my parents from the air and had them come outside with Madi to wave at us!

We then flew over the foothills and over a reservoir.

Taylor flew a little more and then it was time to come in and land.

She helped Doug push the plane back to it's parking spot and tie it down.......which, of course, she was super proud of.

I'm scared we have another pilot in our future!  She wanted to stay the night at the airport and she's already asking when she gets to go flying again!  Oh no!!!