Lucy's 4th Unicorn Birthday Party

This year for Lucy's 4th Birthday I decided to go all out and throw her the party of her dreams. As a true 2nd child, she has never had a real party until now. While Ben has had several epic birthday parties. So basically, this party was making up for a few years of some serious parental guilt. 

Lucy requested a Unicorn party, with a unicorn flavoured cake, and real live unicorns!! After a discussion about mythical creatures vs. real animals, and a little internet search for animals and kid's birthday parties, we settled on unicorn invites, a unicorn shape cake, and a visit from some adorable animals care of Pawsitively Pets. Luckily since we wanted to have a weeknight birthday party they were able to accommodate my less than 2 week notice (see I'm not always organized). Please note: weekend parties book up much farther in advance, so don't wait as long as I did, or you'll be disappointed.

Once I knew Lucy wanted a Unicorn party I set to work on the internet to find a perfect invite and some cute decor. I fell in love with this invite from Little Crazy Doughnut on Etsy, and knew Lucy would adore it too. I absolutely love buying custom invites like this because it's so convenient, affordable, and fast. Which was especially important on my tight timeline.

We sent our invites out via email which is a time and money saver, and has the added benefit of preventing kids from getting their feelings hurt at school. I firmly believe that you can invite as many or as few kids to a birthday party, as long as your tactful about it. A full class party of 28 kids was not happening for us, so Lucy chose a few of her friends from her class and our neighbourhood to invite.

Next I set out to find a unicorn cake and when I saw this one by Le Dolci I knew it was perfect. I wanted this to be a huge surprise for Lucy, so I never let her see photos of it ahead of time. She was absolutely blown away by it, and so were all of the guests at the party. Plus it was absolutely delicious! As a baker I'm especially picky of icing and this was some amazing icing. 

The beautiful flowers from Tonic Blooms added such a perfect touch to the table, and brightened up our home all week. I didn't know exactly what I wanted, so I sent them a photo of some of the party decor and they made up these gorgeous arrangements. I was blown away by how well they complimented the overall theme. 

I absolutely love the way the decor all turned out, but nothing at the party could compare to the adorable creatures Pawsitively Pets brought. Our host Jess arrived a few minutes early and set up the area for the pet show. I loved how they came so prepared with sheets to cover the floors, baby wipes and hand sanitizer. Jess was great with the kids and managed to keep them engaged throughout the whole hour. When some of the kids started getting tired of sitting, she did a little exercise break with them and got them right back into the show. The kids got to look at, learn about, touch and hold a bunch of different cool animals. The questions that the kid's asked were so adorable, and it was amazing to hear some of the stuff they already knew about the animals. The chinchilla was the highlight of the party for me. Not only the softest thing I have ever felt (seriously it's softer than cashmere. no joke. I want one), but it also sat on their heads, which basically made their year. 

I'm so happy to have so many amazing memories from Lucy's party captured by Silvia and Tony of Anchor Studio. I know I would never have been able to get action shots like this while hosting. Although we won't be able to have a photographer at every party, it was a nice treat for this one. I don't think Lucy is going to forget this party anytime soon. She is still wearing her unicorn horn around the house...and sometimes to school. So all in all I would say it was a major success. I will be sure to share the DIY Unicorn horns on the blog soon. I hope this gives you some inspiration for your next kid's birthday party. 

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In this post:

Pawsitively Pets: Pet Parties & Camps     |    Le Dolci: Unicorn Cake     |     Anchor Studio: Photography *Mention With Care at booking to receive 10% Off|     Little Crazy Doughnut: Invitation     |    Tonic Blooms: Flower Arrangements     |     Newmies: Unicorn Stuffies     |     Tiny Trendsetter: Lucy's Dress

*This is a sponsored post which means I was provided compensation and/or product for this post. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. I only partner with products and services that I genuinely love and want to recommend. 

Summertime With Kids: Let's Talk Motherhood

Motherhood is one of those things no one can ever really prepare you for. That's why a supportive mom community is so important. I love how social media has opened up my life to a whole new group of amazingly supportive women who genuinely care about one another. Although we might not all agree on everything in motherhood, we know that we all love our kids and want the best for them, and that's what's most important.

I was so excited to be asked to be part in this month's Let's Talk Motherhood Series with a group of awesome fellow moms. We have all answered a few questions about summertime with our littles, so check it out below. Links to each post can be found at the end.

1. What are your favorite summertime activities with your little ones?

Hands down my favourite thing to do with my kids in the summer is spend time around the pool at my family farm. As a long time swimmer and lifeguard I am so happy that all 3 of my littles love the water. Our farm is a place that the kids can run wild and have lots of unstructured time outdoors. When we're not in the pool we love to go on walks to pick wild flowers, check out the cows in the neighbouring fields, and of course enjoy bon fires with s'mores.  

2. How do you help keep your young ones cool when it's hot outside?

It can be really difficult to keep little ones cool and hydrated when our heat advisory days arrive. When we're at the splash pad or poolside it's easy to wade in the water to cool off, or sit in the shade of a big tree, but if we're headed out on a long summer day trip around the city I always plan ahead and freeze water bottles or juice boxes in the deep freeze the night before. The frozen drinks stay cold late into the day and keep the rest of the food/drinks cool. The cold water bottles can also be applied to the back of the neck/wrist, or poured over a piece of fabric as a compress to help cool someone off if need be.  

Stay tuned for an upcoming post on Summer Safety With Kids focusing on Preventing, Recognizing, and Treating Overheating and Dehydration. 

3. How do you handle having less time in the summer, since your kids are out of school?

With all 3 kids home full time for the summer I find having a mix of structured time, and vacation/go with the flow time, is important. I want my kids to enjoy the carefree days of summer. The slow days where you get so bored you create the best game or invention ever. That's what I remember loving about summer. This year we have our big kid in Camp a few weeks scattered throughout the summer, plus I have some occasional help from local babysitters for my 2 littlest. Ultimately, I have to slow down my community offerings during the summer months, so I can keep up with the kids. 

4. At what age were your kids when you started taking family summer vacations with them?

We took our first babe on a road trip to our farm when he was only 3 weeks old, and have never looked back. We try to spend about 3 weeks each summer at our farm, we also go on an annual back country camping trip (Learn about Camping With Kids Here & Here), and we always love getting away on local adventures. My husband and I love to travel, but we probably won't be going on any big fancy trips anytime soon with 3 littles in tow and a tight budget. Hopefully as the kids get older we'll be able to plan more elaborate family trips again. 

5. What tips would you suggest for new moms traveling with their little ones for the first time?

Read my Travelling with Tots Series. Hahaha...no seriously. Although it doesn't contain everything you need to know about travelling it has a lot of tips that I have learned over the years. Travelling with kids isn't like a pre-kid vacation, but it can still be wonderful if you go into it prepared and with realistic expectations. When all else fails, lower your expectations ;) 

Hope you enjoyed hearing my take on summertime with my littles. Don't forget to check out these 4 awesome moms to hear about their perspectives on Motherhood in Summertime. 

McKell lifeasmrswilson.com (@mckellwilson)  |  Aurora auroramccausland.com (@auroramccausland)   |  Jenn whatyoumakeitblog.com (@whatyou_make_it)  |   Hannah mundanemummy.com (@_hannahsilver_)

What's your favourite thing to do in summer with your kiddos? I would love to hear in the comments below. 

Care 

IN THIS POST: 

Anchor Studio: Photo with kids at top (Julia Salk Set Stylist)    |   Rollo Towel: Roundie Towel     |   Tiny Trendsetter: Chambray Bonnet & Saltwater Sandals|    Diaper-eez: Motherease Swim Diaper & Swim Trainer *10% off code: Withcare   |    Sakura Bloom: Linen Ring Sling      |    I Angel: Grey Chevron Hip Seat Carrier   

*This is not a sponsored post 

Garage Makeover Inspiration + GIVEAWAY! Enter to WIN a "Smart Garage Door System" with Garaga

When we were looking to buy a home in Toronto we never thought we would get lucky enough to have a garage, let alone the big 2 car garage we managed to snag. The only issue was that it was a bit of an eyesore with peeling paint, old sharp metal siding and an ugly broken garage door that faces directly into our yard. Fixing up the garage has been on our wish list for the last 4 years, and finally this year we decided to do it. We love our gardens so much, and want to enjoy our beautiful backyard with a fresh backdrop. 

I've been gathering inspiration for our makeover on Pinterest, but it's been tough. I love a combination of old and new, and was originally thinking of going with a sleek contemporary look. After playing around with the options on Garaga's Design Centre I realized that I wanted to go with more of a country rustic vibe. I absoloutely love that you can add your own photo to their online designer to get a realistic sense of what it will look like. For someone like me who isn't as visual, this was a huge help.

Here's the super rough mockup of what we're thinking (I'm definitely not a photoshop expert, but it gives a good idea of the fresh look I'm going for). I'm still debating if we should add windows in the top panels of the door. Any thoughts? I'm also still deciding on what siding to use. I have some beautiful wood siding samples on the way from from Maibec to check out. 

I will be adding a new light fixture and some type of planter for the wall where the window used to be. I'm also debating painting the regular door black or keeping it white. Comment with your vote! Here's some of my inspiration. You can see more on Pinterest. 

If you have a garage that could use a little pick me up, check out this AMAZING Giveaway Garaga is hosting. You could Win the Garage Door of your dreams plus a Smart Garage System. AKA a garage door you can control from your smart phone! Genius for people like me who always question whether you actually closed the garage. The contest ends June 28th, so don't wait! See Garaga for full contest details. Enter by simply clicking here and following through to design your dream garage door and fill out your information. 

Huge thanks to Diana and the rest of the team at The Garage Door Depot (Local Toronto company who will be installing our new door) for all of your help narrowing down the choices and figuring out what we need.

Stay tuned for our Garage Makeover Reveal this summer and don't forget to Enter Garaga's Smart Garage Giveaway!

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*This is a sponsored post which means I was provided compensation and/or product for this post. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.