Party Time…

Greetings from unseasonably cold and rainy Central Jersey. It’s hard to figure out this weather recently, but there was no way that we were going that rain on our parade this week! With Victoria’s 7th birthday so close to Halloween, we needed to have her birthday party a little early. So, this weekend we surprised her with a large family/friend gathering to celebrate her big day. She was completely surprised and had more fun than we have ever seen her have!! Watching her enjoy it as much as she did, made it more enjoyable than Mommy and Daddy could have ever imagined!

60+ folks were able to join us for the party. The cake was amazing!! Since this was Victoria’s 1st real birthday party, we wanted to make sure that it was something really special. So, we enlisted the help of the great folks over at Pink Cake Box here in New Jersey (http://www.pinkcakebox.com/) to create a birthday cake that would be perfect for Victoria. Mommy and Daddy talked to the owner about the design of the cake a few months ago. We wanted the cake to incorporate things that Victoria loved in Russia and those that she has grown to love here in the US. Of course, until it arrived, we had only seen a drawing. Once the cake arrived and we saw how beautiful it was, we knew that Victoria would just be floored…and we were right!! Also, much to our delight, the cake was every bit as delicious as it was beautiful.

The party also included a fantastic magic show by a magician that Victoria saw when she was in day camp over the summer. Of course, we intended the magic show to be for the kids. However, it ended up entertaining the entire crowd….excellent! At the end of the day, everyone seemed to have had a great time. We are blessed to have such wonderful, supportive family and friends…and we are so happy that so many were able to join in the celebration with us.

Today, we were all a little tired from Saturday’s festivities, so we took to it easy. Victoria has been asking to paint pumpkins (the ones we picked a few weeks back) for a few days now. So, we relaxed at home today and did just that. Excellent end to a great week!

Here are some pictures from the week…

Ready for school pictures:

Here’s the cake!
A back view…the detail was amazing!
Victoria and the Cheburashka:
Pooh and Thomas:
Sparkee (a mascot for a local baseball team) with some other decorations:
When do we eat?
Showing off her balloon prizes for helping the magician:
Waiting for Daddy to light the candles:
All smiles while listening to everyone sing Happy Birthday:
Digging in and enjoying her birthday cake:
mmmmm…this cake is good!
It took 3 people to cut the cake…it was a shame to cut, but a pleasure to eat!
Victoria decided to paint a cat’s face on her pumpkin: