birthday the fifth

After a quiet morning at home with a simple breakfast and search for the now FIVE birthday fairies (I'm still wrapping my head around that number), we once again celebrated Naiya's birthday at Kruger's Farm on Sauvie Island.

We love the relaxed, natural atmosphere and the wide open space where the children can run, play, visit the giant pig, hide in the corn and search for the perfect pumpkin. 

Mostly we just like that we're able to have this gathering out of doors.  We're lucky to have given birth to our child in the early Autumn when the weather here in the Pacific Northwest can be somewhat wet but is almost always comfortable.  With outdoor celebrations it seems like Nature does a lot of the decorating and hosting on her own and even provides a fair amount of entertainment.

We did furnish a spread for both adults and children that included five cakes.  Yup.  Five cakes.  This bit is really Ryan's doing.  On Naiya's third birthday he couldn't decide which cake to make her so he made three.  We both thought it was kind of cute because, you know, she was three.  But then came four with four cakes and now five with cakes a-plenty.  At some point this will have to stop obviously (or we'll need to get some smaller cake molds).  Naiya helped with the decorating of one of the sweet treats and, not surprisingly, this was the one that nearly all of the children wanted to eat.  Any guesses?

 We laid out a table with tiny pumpkins and stick on decorations and these ever so creative children were in fine form.

Like last year, we had a treasure hunt for the little ones to follow at their own pace.  Most tried it out as they arrived alone or in pairs and it worked out quite well.  (I'll post more about the crafts for that soon.)

 We also took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch where all the children found the very best of pumpkins.  They, of course, have to be just so.

I tried out my amateur face painting skills but I think what the children liked most was decorating the mommies and daddies.

Most of the day was just spent frolicking and enjoying the farm and its many inhabitants.

We were lucky to avoid the rain and enjoyed a beautiful, festive day with many of our beloved friends and family.  Just as we unloaded the last party remnants from the car at home the sky opened up and poured out a storm. 

Happy birthday to my wonder-filled little girl.