Bella's Pre- Party Prep and Fun

 Bella is not yet six. This Tuesday, the 16th is her big day. BUT since we leave for Thailand this week, I just could not muster all that was needed to do it right so close to departure.
Saturday, the 13th from start to finish we celebrated our Bella boo.
Starting with the traditional pancake stating her age.

In the morning David took the kids out to buy her her gifts.
In-line skates from Poppy and CC...

 looks born to skate...

 let's start by walking on the rug...

 And this big bear from mommy and daddy. She has been wanting one for a long time!!!

 yes it is as big as she is.

Then we started getting ready. She wanted a lady bug cake (because she sees pics of her two year old bday and thought it looked so cute). She also named the friends she wanted to invite from class, it started to get long...we can't invite all fifty something, I kept telling her. 'Narrow it to about 8', plus we would have some neighbors too. Two years ago we did have a mixed party of locals and some ex-pats, but they were our neighbors, no one from her class. This year it was all schoolmates, she loves her school.

I found these big, colorful sunflowers at a local shop

these flowers...

And the cake I made and froze earlier in the week, then thawed it to decorate.

 The head was a little too big so I cut it to make it look more like a lady bug.

 chocolate rocks, mini oreos, whola! "Look Bella, at the ladybug I found in a rock garden!"

She wanted to 'bei' the bear. This is what they do with babies in China. With cloth just like this.

Lady bug + princessy cupcakes. I made a lot because she was inviting 8 kids + who knows if parents would stay, + 3 neighborhood kids (parents?)+ 3 teachers= anywhere from 11-32 people, not including our family!

 I ordered a small cake from a bakery just in case.

I called all the parents on Thursday, saw some of them on Friday at a quick teacher-parent meeting and then texted them all our address on Friday night. I had confirmations from many of them, so that was good news!