Ally's American Girl Party...

This past Saturday, Ally had her first ever "big girl" birthday party! She invited all the girls from her class, and her "cousin" Alexis who is in Kindergarten. Seven little girls, ranging in age from 5 to 7.... overtook my house on Saturday afternoon.

Ally chose a theme for her party - American Girl of course! She asked all the girls to bring an American Girl doll if they had one, or another doll of their choosing. Almost all the girls had an American Girl doll... some having more than one, so there were dolls for everyone. Ally, herself, has four, two of which we "inherited" from generous family and friends.

We decorated the house with pink and purple streamers and pastel balloons. Her cake of choice, as always, yellow with chocolate frosting and the ice cream, mint chocolate chip. I decided it would be fun to let the girls each make their own personal pizza. I provided them with little crusts and bowls of sauce, cheese and toppings for them to make themselves. It was a huge hit! Everyone loved it!!!!

While we baked the pizzas.. the girls ran wild in the basement. Thank god for that basement and play room! Luke just stood in amazement at the top of the stairs... when he got brave, he called out to Ally. I was so proud of her. She could have easily ignored him and played with her friends... but she came upstairs and got him, took him down and involved him in their play. She can be such a good big sister sometimes.

The girls came up when the pizzas were ready and I got my first taste of the level of noise seven little girls can produce. Everyone just yells. They weren't yelling at me in a rude way... it was just that the answers to my questions of "what do you want to drink" and such, were all answered at once, with all the girls trying to yell over one another! It was insanity!

They ate their pizzas... and back downstairs they went to finish their "game." Never did find out what they were playing exactly.... I just heard a lot of screaching..... :-)

Scott and I stayed on top of the whirlwind MESS and cleaned the kitchen quick while they were gone.... then, we called them up and we played American Girl Bingo. It was a big hit and they all loved it. Then, Ally wanted to play a game she thought up... "Pass the American Girl doll." She created it much in the likeness of musical chairs... the girls passed dolls to one another, there being one less doll than girls... and I played music. When the music stopped, the girl without a doll was out... you get the picture. They squealed some more and played over and over...

Back to the basement... and back up again for GIFTS! The gift opening was hilarious. All the girls were on top of one another, so excited to see what she got. They all read each card... they all just had to be in the midst of the action. The pictures I was able to get don't really do the moment justice. :-)

We had cake and ice cream... and back downstairs they went....

Holy crap... three hours passed already... and parents started to arrive to pick their girls up... a very successful, fast paced, exhausting party!!! A rousing success. Ally was very pleased with everything... and I was more than impressed with how well behaved every one of those girls were. Definitely an event I will look forward to again next year!!

Even if my ears are STILL ringing..... ;-)

Here are some fun shots from the day...