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A Virtual Reenactment of Delaney's 13th Birthday Party!

Although Delaney does not officially become a teenager until this coming Thursday (and, believe me, she is counting down the days until the momentous occasion!), we had a party for her this past Friday night.

We held it at our church because, well, you can dance at our church (and it was free for us to use!) and that's the main thing Delaney wanted going on at her party...dancing (although she also enjoyed getting gifts!). She had invited more than 50 kids, but we ended up having about 30 guests there. Still, it was plenty packed for me...LOL...and we had a BLAST!

How about a "virtual" reenactment for those of you who couldn't make it?

We had a photo backdrop set up and kids came over all night to pose. These are just a few of the shots we took (I even snuck in there for a few)...






McKenna's boyfriend, Brett, and our "adopted" son and friend, Raymond, served as Delaney's "Security Detail" (or Bouncers!). They stood menacingly at the door...


Checked the list of arriving guests ...

and usually let people through without any problem...


Unless you were the Birthday Girl's Pop and little sister...

or her boyfriend (and then you had to have Delaney come out and approve his arrival)...

The guys were so great to get into the spirit of the party, and they were a big hit!

Aside from dancing (pictures further along in the post!), we had other fun activities. There was a big sign for the kids to all put their birthday greetings on (and I love this picture I captured of Sydney and her friend Haley Jo signing it. Sydney's said, "I love you. From Sydney." Written with no help from anyone else, thank you very much!)...

And, of course, there was cake...

(I had offered to make a huge cupcake tower, but she wanted this one. I indulged her and, I have to say, it was delicious!). She made a big wish and blew out the candles...

I had a Drink Table set up and was planning to spend the evening making drinks. But once some of the girls found out what I was whipping up, they wanted to become the "bartenders"!

In addition to various cokes, I had Cotton Candy Shirley Temples (Sprite, splash of grenadine, ice, and a piece of cotton candy on the rim of the glass. Push the cotton candy down into the glass with a festive straw, and the cotton candy melts into yummy syrup) and Iced Coffee Coolers (fresh brewed coffee, milk, sugar, creamer, chocolate syrup, and ice, then topped with a scoop of ice cream). The drinks were both BIG hits and the girls manned the "bar" all night long for me...

I should have cut some of them off, though, because Kayla had six Shirley Temples and became quite hyper...

Dancing, though, was the highlight of the evening and we definitely did our fill of it! Another great friend of ours (Chris, one of McKenna's friends who just graduated from high school) served as our D.J. and did a great job. We danced to classics like "Cha Cha Slide," "Cupid Shuffle," "YMCA," and "Thriller"; the new dance, "Hoedown Throwdown,"; a huge collection of current faves from the radio; and even a few slow songs...



A "Dance Off" even erupted between the older teenage guys, and it was a classic moment...

Of course, no party is complete without gifts. Delaney's friends really spoiled her, with all sorts of great gifts and plenty of money gifts for shopping (I took her the next day and she promptly spend $150 on clothes and all sorts of girly accessories). She got a Zune from us...

I loved seeing Delaney's face whenever she opened a new gift...

or got a sweet, homemade card from a friend (she truly has some of the sweetest friends ever!)...

or got money...

When the party finally shut down at 10, we were all a bit tired. And they were ready to take it home with a final dance...

The partying continued on, as two friends spent the night and then I took them shopping the next day.

Of course, the celebrations will continue!

If you've visited this blog for very long, you know that we love to stretch birthdays out as long as possible, and Delaney's big 13th will be no exception! We will celebrate for most of the week...because we think she' s worth celebrating!

(And thanks for attending Delaney's "virtual" party. I hope you had a good time!)