Frozen - with Anna

Well, I have to say that Libby's 5th birthday party was just as magical as I had hoped it would be after much planning, plus an invitation to Princess Anna herself!

Libby's party was at the church hall again this year - this time planned that way in advance and on purpose because she loved it so much last year!

Michael and I arrived early to set up (after I worked that morning!), thanks to Gigi and Papa who came over to keep the kids at home and make sure Matthew was well-rested for the excitement ahead. Thank goodness Michael is tall! He got some of our frozen decorations hung way up high and helped me with all the set up stuff.

Our cupcakes turned out great!

And while the general food was not sandwiches (Anna's favorite) as I thought might be fun, the birthday girl wanted pizza! So, we had Olaf's arms and noses (that's pretzel sticks and baby carrots) as munchies, and a festive frozen blue punch with ice cream in it (kind of a float!) for our drinks.

Look! Libby is FIVE!

Libby's guests arrived and as promised, she quickly took Kira around to introduce her to Diddy and Papa, and other family and friends since it was Kira's first time with Libby's main gang.

Anna arrived after we ate our quick lunch and started off with a full agenda of fun times!

First, she crowned Libby with her very own special birthday crown!

Then, she gathered everyone for dancing and curtsying. Only the girls at the party really got involved with most of the Anna stuff, but the boys had other toys to play with that we brought over and they also got really involved when it came to gift-opening time! (More on that later.) And Matthew did join up from time to time, too.

The girls really did have a blast. Leah and Sydney were into it, Kira warmed up pretty quickly, and Ansley was Anna's BFF from the get-go. Libby had a ball! I was so excited to see her just really get involved, put on her Elsa gown (to coordinate with Anna) and let loose.

She got her face painted for the first time (and it was Kira's first time letting anyone paint her face, too!)

The whole time Anna painted faces, she was quizzed on tough questions and things about Arrendale and/or was singing songs from the movie.

And Matthew found time to play on Libby's scooter!

We did a quick singing of the birthday song before some of our favorite guests had to leave. Anne presented Libby with her cupcake!

Next it was time for parachute games! The boys mostly still didn't get involved here...

AND Elsa had taught Anna some of her magic! The girls loved it (and the adults were pretty amazed, too.)

Libby was delighted with her special day!

And the boys finally got excited about the balloon animals and swords.

Time to eat cake!

We hadn't planned to open gifts at the party, but we decided to go for it because Ryan wanted to see Libby open the gifts he had picked out for her. Well, the kids got VERY excited and into this event - especially the boys.

We had a fabulous time! It was wonderful that Anna could come and share the special day with us AND entertain the kids so well.

Happy 5th Birthday, Libby!