Maeve is 8!

Our sweetie turned 8! Her birthday was on a school day, but she convinced us to let her open a few presents before school and Pete made her requested pancake breakfast. She had been so excited for her birthday. Can you tell from the photos?! She's into Harry Potter, all things girly, and stationary sets. 

After school, the festivities could begin! She had made her plan well in advance: Dominos, Harry Potter 3 viewing (Pete just finished reading the book to her), and then ice cream sundaes. 

She insisted on making everyone's sundaes, writing down our orders with the various toppings. 

She's a silly one! 

Maeve is as organized as her mother and had her birthday party planned (and goody bags made, complete with individual names) nearly 3 months before the actual day! We booked the Van Gogh Museum after enjoying a painting workshop there over Winter break. Good thing she is organized because they only offer 2 birthday parties a week so it books up fast! It felt iconic to be able to have a party in the famous museum. 

The day before the party, however, I received a distressing email that the art teacher was sick and a replacement couldn't be found. So the party would either need to be rescheduled or it could continue, but without the painting workshop (the entire reason for going). The cake had already been made and the alternate date they suggested wasn't an option for us, so I scrambled to think how we could salvage the party. 

I reached out to two friends who run art workshops to see if they might be free and if the Van Gogh Museum would let us bring our own teacher. Unfortunately, they were not free and the museum wouldn't allow an outside teacher. That got me thinking that since I had just learned some basic watercolor skills, I could lead a workshop on my own outside the museum. The weather was looking really nice so I went to Action to stock up on supplies and then broke the news to Maeve who was rightfully disappointed. The show must go on... 

Heading into the city with some friends. Pete took the bakfiets with the party supplies and I carried the cake. It was a really warm day and the frosting totally melted off the cake! It was a good conversation starter on the tram, though! 

As a consolation, the museum offered us all free admission and a scavenger hunt to complete for prizes. The museum was really busy and the scavenger hunt was quite involved. I was relieved when we completed it and still had all 11 kids with us! 

We set up in the cafe to enjoy cake and presents. 

That poor melted frosting! 

Then we headed outside and watercolored under some shady trees, with the smell of marijuana smoke from nearby tourists wafting over us. Oh, Amsterdam.