Birthday Time!

AJ wanted a doll slumber party this year (despite the fact that after last year she said no more slumber parties until she was 12. . .). I decided that a slumber party wouldn't be so bad if we went to a hotel.

For the invitations, I thought it would be cute to do sleeping bags. I was going to get some little American Girl stickers to put on the sleeping bag to represent their dolls, and then slip the invitation inside the bag, but decided it would be a lot more fun for the girls if their doll was the size of the sleeping bag so they could play with it. So I went to the American girl website and printed dolls in their PJs to go in the sleeping bags (AJ cut them out for me), and the invitation opened up for the party details. The girls LOVED them. Kate said her girls played with theirs the whole way home, and Em's girls called the night they got theirs to tell me how much they loved them. Elizabeth said, "When I opened mine I screamed this is the cutest thing ever! I can tell you and AJ worked really hard on the invitations and I'm going to keep mine forever." How sweet is that?
Here are the girls soon after we arrived at the hotel. We dropped off their stuff and then quickly changed into swimsuits to head down to the pool.

After swimming everyone got cleaned up and we made pizzas for dinner (I got a room with a kitchenette). They had so much fun decorating their pizzas and it was fun watching them get so into it! They made a bigger one for themselves and a smaller one for their doll.
I made the cupcakes and Emily decorated them for me. You can't really see it, but she did tie-dye frosting. They turned out SO darling!Speaking of my sweet Em, the party would not have been as successful without all of her help. She took charge of the pedicures and got all of the stuff to do glitter toes. The girls loved it!
We decided it would work best if Emily worked on the girls' toes individually while I had the rest of them doing crafts. They made necklaces, bracelets, and hair clips. Those who finished early also made some for their dolls.

And then of course presents! We did heavy hangover. I wish I would have written down the things AJ wished for each of her friends; it was really cute. And they were all so thoughtful in their gifts. I'm glad she has such good friends.

At the end of the night we put on the movie, "Kit Kittredge: An American girl," to help them settle down. It is such a cute show! After it was over they were really good about brushing their teeth and it didn't take too long to get them settled down. In fact, everyone was asleep by 11. Well, I guess not everyone; Emily and I stayed up until after 1 talking. . . AJ said it was the best birthday ever, and I would have to agree. It's nice that they are at an age where they can do more on their own. Everyone was so good, NO ONE got upset and no one got their feelings hurt. It all ran so smoothly, and I got to enjoy a night out with my friend in addition to putting on my daughter's birthday party!