Miss A celebrates her 10th birthday

Parenting is full of milestones, and they come thick and fast in the early years. The first smile, first steps, first time they sleep through the night. And the “firsts” continue: their first day of school, first time they lose a tooth, first time they ride a bike without training wheels. So many firsts!! There are also many “lasts” and while some of them are jubilant celebrations (last time they wear nappies) many of the lasts are also losses you mourn (last breastfeed, last time they nestle into your chest). 

Today my first-born “baby” turned TEN! She is officially in the double digits now and this has resulted in much excitement and celebration. On a personal level it is pretty significant for me, too. I have reached ten years of motherhood – a decade of surviving parenthood. That’s a pretty big deal, right? So I could get all reflective and sentimental in this post, but instead I am going to show you how Miss A celebrated this milestone with her friends. To say she had a terrific time is a gross understatement. I think the reason she had such a great party was because we had it at home with a great bunch of girlfriend, and it involved good old-fashioned fun. It wasn’t fancy but it was fabulous.

Miss A’s 10th Birthday Party

Miss A invited 14 girls to her party so when you add in our lot the total number of guests was 18. This is a big party in my  books. Usually I like to keep numbers smaller but considering it was a milestone birthday, and we only have parties every second year, 18 seemed like a good number. Here’s a rundown of the party elements and activities:

Venue: Home

Time: 4.30pm-8.30pm

Activities:

• We kicked off the party with a Treasure Hunt that started at home, then took the girls around the neighbourhood, finishing at the school.  The final clue led them to the canteen where the treasure was icy poles for all. Considering it was over 36 degrees, it was ideal thirst quenching treasure. 
• Music and dancing: Back at home, a gaggle of girls busted out some seriously impressive moves (featuring: The Floss, The Worm, The Dab)  to Miss A’s party playlist. 
• Pizza for dinner: We ordered pizzas from a local wood fired pizza place, which were demolished on picnic rugs outside on the grass. More dancing. More giggles. And wheelbarrow races on the grass!
• Polaroids: We bought an Instax polaroid camera for the party. It was so much fun. We took photos of all guests with the birthday girl and each guest got to take copy home. We pasted one copy into a scrapbook for Miss A to keep and each guest wrote a birthday message next to the pic. It was loads of fun!
• Movie: After all that dancing it was time for a movie (Small Foot).  Most of the party guests watched the flick but some had more”energy” to burn off… 
• Cake time: Half an hour before the end of the party we sung happy birthday to Miss A. The cake was declared a triumph (phew). I iced the cake using this icing recipe. The key to a really delicious buttercream is in the good quality vanilla extract you use (not essence). The flowers on the top of the cake acted as a subtle and sophisticated cake topper. Natives and pink roses the perfect arrangement by Violet and the Fox.
• Champagne, cheese and macarons: The cheese platter was meant to be for the grown ups but the kids devoured it too. I was impressed by their sophisticated palettes as they enjoyed the artichokes, soft cheese, figs and honeycomb. It was a seriously good grazing board generously created by By Natascha. 
• End of party: Time for Mr NASD and me to polish off the rest of the champagne and the grazing board. Party girl went to bed with a very full tummy and even fuller heart. She declared it “The Best Party Ever.” Well, you only turn double digits once…

For a look at other parties, cakes and celebrations, visit the Celebrate section of this blog. And to stay up-to-date with all our family shenanigans make sure you’re following NASD on Facebook and Instagram.