Elsa's six!

With her current obsession with chameleons, the theme of Elsa's birthday party was a no-brainer.  Plus, we quickly realized that we could have a lot fun using mostly things we already had, like pipe-cleaners!  We saw how to make these little guys online, and Elsa and I had a really good time making them together over several afternoons (and then hiding them around the house and yard - they can be surprisingly hard to find!).

  

We decided on rice krispies instead of cake, with was a good choice for sculpting a lizard.

Elsa's invitation list was rather eccentric for a 6 year-old, and included several of her special adult friends, including "Mr. Nate" who introduced her to chameleons in the first place.

I've also discovered the best way to get a whole group of kids to smile at once - put Joel behind the photographer!

Many of the kids came dressed in monochrome to pretend to be chameleons with Elsa.  We had a chameleon hunt (for all the pipe-cleaner lizards hid by the grown-ups in around the back yard) and a chameleon "eating" contest with the party blowers.  We laid out stickers with the sticky side up that the kids had to "lick" up with their chameleon party blower "tongues."  It was so funny and the kids had a great time!

Elsa is one to savor things she likes, so opening presents took longer than I expected.  No ripping open of boxes here - she slowly and carefully opened each one in turn, and had be to goaded on to keep going because it was getting late in the evening!  Those familiar with Elsa or even just the photos on this blog will know she is a dramatic little girl, and her genuine delight with her presents was a joy to everyone there.

She loved all her gifts, but the best expressions caught on film (thanks to my friend, Kim, who had my camera so I could just sit and enjoy it all!) were for her beanie baby chameleon from mommy and daddy,

... a singing cat card from Mr. Nate,

... 9 rolls of scotch tape OF HER VERY OWN! (her craft endeavors have rapidly depleted my modest desk supply),

... and, joy of joys,

Her very own chameleon (hand puppet) from Aunt Naomi.  

Elsa is not the mothering type (Nora is our nurturer), but this chameleon gets carried around the house, gets taken on stroller rides to the farmers market, is put to bed and tucked in every night, and is frequently getting caught around the house perched or hanging on furniture with his prehensile tail.  

When Elsa is into something, she is very thorough, as you can see by her green "chameleon" fingernails shown with her new musical jewelry box from Aunt Emily, which has also become one of her most prized possessions. 

Her best present, though, was my mother, her "Oma," showing up as a complete surprise the morning of her party.  Even if I did have my camera ready her reaction was too ecstatic to have captured as more than a blur.   She jumped for about ten minutes at the surprise.  When she finally settled down she said (and I wish I could have captured this on film), "Oma, you're better than any birthday present!" 

I loved working with Elsa to prepare for her birthday.  I did not set out to plan a big event or anything, but we just had so much fun brain-storming together, planning the games, and making all the little chameleons, party-blowers, and rice-krispies.  Those afternoons together and then seeing her delight overflow have been the most pleasurable highlights of the last few months for me.