and the princess is 5!

We had so much fun with all the birthday celebrations that seemed to go on for a whole week around here! This was a big year for Reilly...turning 5 is a big deal!! Can't believe it. Reilly decided several months ago that she wanted to have a horse party at DeeDee and Poppi's house with a small group of friends. I told her she could choose 4 friends because that would be the limit of how many carseats I could fit in my car! After scrambling to come up with a plan B due to the threat of bad weather, we eventually decided to go with our original plan and loaded up at 10:00 Saturday morning and headed to Greensboro!! The girls were all so giddy and giggly in the car, carseats so tight we had to wrestle the seatbelts in! They watch the VeggieTale movie, "Princess and the PopStar", singing and laughing the whole way. When we got to Greensboro, the unloaded and ran up to the door. Reilly was so excited to have her friends at DeeDee and Poppi's house, and while she did an awesome job serving her friends, she also made sure that everyone knew who exactly was still in charge :) Love that girl! They immediately went out to the barn to meet the horses. DeeDee got Teddy out and they all got to brush him and sit on him bare back. She did lots of teaching along the way, which was really fun. The girls were all so excited about each horse and each thing they got to do! They all took turns tying ribbons on Teddy's mane and tail, painting his hoofs with purple-sparkle-paint, and then put a pink cowboy hat on him. I came prepared with some tiaras, bracelets, and rings and we headed up to the road for a "Princess Pony Parade"! Each girl had a turn riding Teddy while the others paraded behind waving. We had a yummy lunch and then did a fun craft that DeeDee put together....they got to make picture frames out of real horseshoes, using beads and foam stickers! Then we got ready for riding the "big" horses! Mom set up the bobbing-for-apples game and after a few of the kids took turns, Teddy had his moment and entertained us all while literally putting his entire face into the water to try to get an apple in his mouth. The kids LOVED it. We had a fabulous horse cake and then played some games before packing up the car and heading back to Charlotte! It was a perfect day and turned out great. I know Reilly had such a special time celebrating!