Catching up on Birthday Posting, Wendy turns 6!

This is a little late getting up, but on March 9th, our little Wendy turned 6!

Here she is with her birthday breakfast...pancakes in the shape of 'W's'...

She is an amazing big sister...

Vera is interested in helping out with the present opening.

After school I took her out to Coldstone for her favorite treat. Green Tea ice cream! The best part of the trip to Coldstone was that their 'dipped' cones were actually pink. She was THRILLED to have a pink-chocolate ice cream cone.

Our original plan was to go to the Barbie Store (yes...it exists), which was a four story store downtown with a Pink Cafe and all kinds of Barbie related activities and 'stuff'. Unfortunately I found out on the 8th that it had closed on March 7th! The exact reasons weren't made public, but probably they were unable to make enough money at that location to be profitable. They were located on some of the more expensive real-estate in downtown Shanghai, and perhaps they outdid themselves with the massive retail store. Since Barbie shares a birthday with Wendy (March 9, 1959!) we stuck to our Barbie-themed afternoon and went to a toy store to pick out some new dresses for her Barbie after we finished up at Coldstone.

Here we are later that evening for cake. Even though the temperature was still freezing outside, the girls insisted on wearing their party dresses. Wendy helped make this yummy chocolate cake.

A few days later, we had a very small party for a couple of Wendy's friends.

The theme...'I can be a Fashion Designer'. I wish I had taken more photos! The girls watched a brief (like 5 minutes) biography of a designer at Mattel who creates Barbie clothing. Then they each received a sketch pad and colored pencils to begin drawing some of their own ideas.

My original plan included doing some actual sewing at this party. I chickened out a couple days before the party...and decided to do 'no-sew tutu's' instead!

I went to a curtain store near our home and talked to the owner about my idea and asked about purchasing some lightweight pink fabric for the tutu's. He offered me all his scraps...for free!! Since the tutu's require only strips of fabric, it worked out perfectly. Here are the strips of fabric I cut from his scraps...arranged by color for the girls to choose from! The yellow pieces on the bottom right are jersey material that will eventually become the waistbands.

The older girls did great tying their strips of fabric on the waistband and here they are with their final products! I even made a little one for Geneva :).

And what would Wendy's birthday party be without a pink cake?

Happy Birthday Wendy!