Rainbow-rrific

Whenever I was brainstorming cake ideas for Avery's birthday party in March, Kennedy and I stumbled upon the notorious Pinterest Rainbow Cake and she was IN LOVE. Obviously that was in March so we weren't dead set on exactly what type of birthday party she'd be having come August, but the cake was definitely on her radar. Fast forward a few months and I was in Target looking for some items we were in need of when I stumbled upon this entire line of  really cute Spritz brand rainbow party supplies. At first I glanced at it and just thought "hmmm, well that would be super cute with the rainbow cake" but then I bypassed on purchasing any of it because we were so far out from her birthday and no concrete decisions were made about her desired theme, etc. About a month after I initially saw it all I still kept spotting it from time to time while I was in Target and then one afternoon I popped in to grab some stuff and it was all 50% off and our theme was then confirmed - rainbow party it is :). Tim has made lots of LGBT jokes about our selected theme, but honestly I couldn't be happier with how it all came together. 

 The outside chalk decoration was Tim and Kennedy's little project and I think the result was AWESOME. 

 How cute and perfect are these little rainbows? Go Daddy!

 The little treat boxes were part of the spritz clearance and then I found rainbow items here and there but mostly Walmart and Target one spot - stickers, pencils, markers, glow in the dark whistles, colored glue sticks, a little plastic disc shooter thing-a-ma-jiggy, candy necklaces and some lucky charms of course and skittles of course.  

 The banner, hats and pinwheels were all clearanced - I'm tellin' y'all: major score! 

 My camera settings were off, making my little party go-er's look blue, but these pictures were still too cute not to share. 

 Declan didn't keep his party hat on for long, but he was so cute in it! 

 Happy to have Honey and Big Jim as party guests!

 ~BFF's~

 ~""squared"~ Look at their sweet little red cheeks: they were playin' hard!

 The food was so fun and colorful. I flipped out with excitement when I found this "carnival cauliflower and Tim was like "um, ok - it's a veggie" but I was all about the RAINBOWNESS of stuff and almost squealed aloud in the grocery when I found it. Whatev, I like a theme: what can I say?! We had veggies and Ina Garten's Tzatziki sauce, 

 Fruit skewers with that delicious fruit dip made with marshmallow creme and cream cheese (you know the one that you could totally devour with a spoon if no one was looking), hummus and pretzel rods, chips, burgers and hot dogs: yum! 

 I never remember to get a picture of the party table before we dig in, but I'm glad I did this time because there's a story behind that pretty little flower arrangement that I want to remember. 

 The story: The day before the party we ran into Trader Joe's to grab some of the produce we needed for the party. Ave and her Daddy had a list and they were racing Grey, Kennedy and I (who also had a list) through Trader Joe's to see who could get done first. Needless to say, Kennedy and I won because we're awesome and I know my way around a grocery, but I digress. Back to the story - so we get all up to the counter panting and laughing and we're checking out and the cashier starts talking to Kennedy and the other kids and Kennedy tells him it's her birthday and she's about to go ride a horse and he just fusses over it being her birthday and was so incredibly sweet about it. I was like "clearly this guy has kids" because he was so animated and what not. Well, right as we were wrapping up and loading our bags he says "Kennedy, I'm going to wave my hand like this (as he makes a swirly gesture in the air) and something magical is going to happen" and as he does and she looks on with anticipation, the bagger walks up and places a bouquet of flowers in his "swirling hand" which he then hands my sweet girl and says "Happy Birthday". OH MY HEAVENS - THE LOOK ON HER FACE was one I can't possibly describe. I'll just steal an old phrase and say she lit up like a Christmas tree. I couldn't get over how nice of a gesture it was and how incredibly sweet of him to do that because I'm sure he had to pay for those flowers. It made her day and they were really nice as our birthday centerpiece too. 

The Cake - it could almost be a blog on it's own - honestly. We had already decided on the rainbow cake we'd seen on Pinterest like I said earlier and there are tons with step by step instructions to choose from - it's crazy. About a week before the party, I hopped on Pinterest to look at a few more rainbow theme ideas and found this posting and it was like that moment when you try on the wedding dress that you can't really afford and the one you will then compare all the others to and then you can't get it out of your head but oh no now what do you do kind of a thing. Yeah - it was like that and I couldn't stop thinking about those glorious frosted roses and the awesomeness of the coordinating rainbow exterior and interior and I just HAD TO MAKE IT. 

I love a culinary challenge, but I was straight up sweatin' this cake - it was intense, but the result was just what I wanted and although I know people think I'm crazy for all the cake craziness I bring upon myself, truthfully I love it and my kids reactions - they are priceless. Kennedy LOVED this cake and LOVED watching me make it which makes all the sweating totally worth while! 

 Despite the immense amounts of food coloring in this cake and icing (praise God for Wilton gels), this cake was delicious...so delicious in fact that Tim and I are ranking it as one of our all time faves - fo real! I may or may not have dreamed about this cake in days since the party. 

 My little roses are nowhere near as perfect as the blog I referenced, but I got better each row and although they were crooked and non-symmetrical - they were still so pretty!

 My big 6 year old. 

 Avery wanted in the picture with us but unfortunately Avery wasn't wearing any clothes (which is actually more often the case than not) and so Tim had to kind of how shall we say - help a sista out. 

 ~Making her wish~

Before I cut into the cake I took a deep breath and the anticipation was killing all of us - we were all huddled around waiting to see how it would look when I cut into it. 

Ta-da: 

Now that you've seen what it looked like when we cut into it, I figure you should see what it looked like when we bit into it too: 

 Greyson clearly agreed with our sentiments on how the cake tasted. Hilarious - this seriously happened multiple times. He was not happy when I took that plate away. 

Outside of our family, the Walls and Honey and Big Jim - Jennifer and her girls were the only other party guests. A small party with dearly loved ones = perfection! 

 Kennedy got lots of really great gifts: earrings, games, a gymnastics biketard, $for her 529 account, some gift cards, clothes, and some crafting stuff. 

 As we wrapped up the present opening the little girls could resist the dress up cabinet no longer - it ALWAYS comes back to dress up with girls and I adore it. 

It's hard to believe my 1st baby is 6 but it's true and it was awesome getting to celebrate her - I couldn't be prouder of the little girl she is!