what?! thirteen?!!

oh em gee. grace marie is thirteen! where did the time go? i remembered this wee one when she had just turned 6…now she’s a teenager. eep! when we met she was a quiet {almost mute}, shy, sheepish little girl. now she’s a tall, smart, beautiful {still shy} teen!

hc and i prepped all week to get things ready for the party. hc manicured the lawn, set up the tent, table, and chairs, i gathered the decor, ordered the cake {horse themed – natch}, prepped the menu, and pre-set anything i could. it was going to be a low key, simple event.

the day of the party, all we had to do was set up the food, decor, and drinks. easy! boy, was it hot. thank goodness it wasn’t as hot and humid as it was the day prior but nevertheless, hot! we were lucky with the weather. a l l week long, it was slated to rain right, smack dab in the middle of the party {of course we were having it outdoors} but the night before, i pulled up the weather app and… ahhhhhhhh! no rain! {insert emoji’s}

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[crumbs cupcakes]

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[her horse birthday cake!]

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[her wood letter where guests wrote their birthday wishes for her]

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[party tent!]

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[gold number and the horse balloon]

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[no she’s not 31! the photo booth]

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[kettle corn and veggie app’s]

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the first guest to arrive was the guest of honor! grace came with her mom, stepdad, and sister anabelle. right after that was gramma jane and papa. soon, everyone slowly trickled in. it was great! i had set up a photo booth and it was so much fun for everyone to goof around with the props. olive was a riot. the first round of pics…olive wasn’t sure what was going on. she saw all the girls grab a prop and pose for pics and she wanted in! she walked over to grace, leaned in, and posed for the pics! it was so sweet and hilarious. i love her! she’s such a doll!

we all hung out, enjoyed some refreshing libations, and socialized to our hearts content. after an hour or so, hc fired up the grill and we started cooking up the food. we had burgers and dogs, pasta salad, potato salad, corn, and fruit on the menu. simple, easy, and light for this hot summer day.

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[one of my favorite photos. olive saw the gals get together for a pick and she wandered over, leaned into grace so she could get in the pic. pure sweetness]

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[hc, aunt gloria, and jane]

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[uncle ed, daniel, and papa]

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[jay, pilar, missy, and wendy]

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[anabelle so graciously pushing olive in this heat!]

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[olive very interested in mila…she doesn’t hang with many kids her age, she was intrigued]

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[holly and nolan]

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[two mice and a fox]

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[kevin, nolan, and holly]

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[my other favorite. olive saw the kids getting ready for a photo, she grabbed a mustache stick and actually placed it correctly on her face! love her!]

after everyone had their fair share of comestibles and satisfied their bellies, i cleaned up and prepped the cake. it was such a cute cake! it had a white picket fence, a brown horse, and flowers. a perfect cake for miss grace! we brought it out, sang happy birthday, and she made her wish! parfait.

we cut the cake and served the delicious morsels with a generous side of vanilla bean ice cream. once everyone finished, it was piñata time! i had purchased a taco piñata…everyone was like, a taco?! hells yes. a nod to grace’s mexican heritage. hahahaha! after the piñata shenanigans, it was time to relax {at least for me!}. during parties, i run around and attempt at being a gracious host…once the ‘activities’ are checked off, i can then chill and enjoy myself. hey man, it’s a lot of work to host a party…no matter how big or small!

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[happy birthday grace!]

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[make a wish grace!]

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[grace got the first swing at the piñata…she knocked it straight down aaaaand she even had a blindfold on!]

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[every kid got to beat on the poor taco]

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[candy!]

after hours and hours of hanging out, slowly everyone trickled out. grace was having the best time with her kiddie guests! they were wild and it was soooo sweet to watch. they were running around, screaming, and laughing. little miss olive just ran around with the big kids and completely enjoyed herself. the kids could have probably played all night long, but alas the parents broke it all up and everyone went on their merry way.

it was a great, great party. we had such a fabulous time hosting everyone! happy 13th birthday to grace marie…may the years ahead be full of laughter, love, and fun. we love you so much!

xoxo

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