A Cooking Adventure ...

Good Afternoon ...

Well ... finally ... an update on the birthday party ...

I have been trying off and on all day to post some pictures ... finally decided to do today's post in 4 segments and it actually worked!

Anyoo ...

The party was great ... everyone seemed to have a great time!

The evening began at 6:30 at Merriman's Tea Room of Ashland City ...

As the kids arrived, they were greeted by Chef Pat and were encouraged to decorate their own apron and chefs hat!

We also had an apron that everyone in attendance signed for LeAnna to put into her memory box.

The parents were escorted into another room right off the offical party room and were waited on by staff of Merriman's ... taking drink and food orders.

After the kids were transformed into little chefs, Chef Pat demonstrated how to make gourmet pizzas and once the pizzas were created - off to the oven they went.

While waiting for them to cook ... Chef Pat demonstrated/illustrated a story ... "Cook-A-Doodle-Doo" ...

Wow! How exciting ... she used stuffed animals and real objects to demonstrate the story. The kids were captivated (as well as the adults) ... they made a strawberry shortcake ... and once made ... Chef Pat held up the beautifully prepared dessert and then (as the story called for), dropped the entire cake on the table! The whole room gasped at once, with mouths hanging open wide! What a surprise! All part of the story, which included "sharing" in making a new one ... which they did not do, but it made for a great ending to the story!

Then it was time to eat their little creations ... PIZZA!

Afterwards ... Paula Deen Southern Tea Cakes were presented to each chef with their choice of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry icing to spread on their tea cakes ... then a ton of items to decorate with were placed on each table ... some pretty cool art work was displayed on these little cakes ... each chef got to take their creation home to enjoy later.

And then it was Birthday Cake time .... fun ... fun ... according to LeAnna ... she was so beside her self standing beside her cakes ... with the candle lit and everyone singing just to her ... a private wish was made and then "woosh"! Another year blown out!

The red apron cake was white cake, the chefs hat was chocolate and the wooden spoon was strawberry! Yum-yum!

And FINALLY ... it was time to open the gifts ... I think this gets more exciting with each passing year! The kids gathered around as she opened her presents ... wow! Cool gifts ... lots of Barbie stuff ... which she has just now, all of a sudden, started getting really interested in ... I overheard one request when she said, "I hope I get a Barbie Jet" ... oh my ... Let's just get a barbie and then we'll see about a jet! ha!

As each little chef began to leave ... with their neatly folded apron and hat tucked into their gift bag - that included a thank you rolling pin, LeAnna's personal cookbook and measuring cup filled with candy ... walked out the door to go home ... I only hoped that they enjoyed this little Cooking Adventure that would generate fun memories for them to recall at a later time.

What each person that was there, probably didn't realize ... is that they helped me create special memories for my sweet baby girl to recall at a later time in her life! Just as we sat together one day and looked over pictures from each birthday from the 1st to the 4th ... we had so much fun recalling memories ... some that she had and some that Mommy had that she did not remember!

LeAnna seemed to really enjoy herself and was SO happy ... from what I could tell everyone seemed to have a really good time!

NOW ... to organize the gifts, get thank you notes out and figure out a new home for all the new prizes!

Fun ... fun ...

Happy Monday ... and enjoy the pictures from the party ... posted below ...

tammy