My niece Avery, aka Rooster Saucy La La, turned 6 on Saturday. I’m going to attempt a photo essay to capture the essence of probably the most unique birthday celebration I’ve ever attended, but even photos can’t do this one justice.  Pictured above is Avery in a beanie hat I made her, meant to loosely resemble the hat worn by Julie, her American Doll.  All birthdays should end with just a little handmade, don’t you think?

Theme: Horse Riding/Horse Painting Party.  Not little ceramic horses, but I can understand why you would think it.  We painted an actual horse.  Decorations: Mother Nature, and I don’t care how cool that cricut is, Fall finally appeared, and being outside was better than any pom pom ball I could have crafted.  Activities: WAIT until you see this:

My sister’s lifelong best friend, Stephanie (known to Avery affectionately as Aunt Didi), has raised horses her entire life.  She was the World Palomino Champion in the 90’s, and has also been a Dean of Equine Studies at a Midwestern College.  Needless to say, Stephanie KNOWS horses.  She offered to host Avery’s 6th birthday party at her farm…and WOWZERS, what kid doesn’t want to go to a REAL LIVE Horse Party?

The girls rode Claire, with Stephanie and her nephew Bill in the lead:

Kelly swore up and down she would neither be painting nor riding a horse.  She changed her mind, and didn’t stop giggling the entire ride:

The great thing about farms are that there are so many other fun adventures to have.  Barn kitties are never in scarce supply:

And this particular horsey rooms with his best friend, The Goat. The kids got to feed them both.  I love how animals teach us that friendship knows no geography:

There are always new friends to be made in large Indiana families.  Like new cousin Baby Ashton (Cousin Dawson is pictured in other photos in this post) and Cousin Raelyn (of whom I didn’t get any pictures, but was kissed and hugged by the girls to no end):

And of course Aunt Didi was a HUGE hit:

Sara beat me at “Horse Horse Pony” (identical to Duck Duck Goose), but she had help, as you can see.  Nope, that’s not me…that’s my Mom and Sister giving her the hint where to sit.  I’m the girl barrel racing around the hay bales, not even CLOSE to catching my own 5 year old:

We played a couple of different versions of Pony Round Up.  Aunt Didi’s version included angels and sidewalk chalk.  My game had ponies hiding under trees.  The kids thought they were in some kind of horse Christmas:

But about painting that horse, you ask?  I think this activity was the favorite, and was just, well…UNIQUE! Raquel is 25, nearly white in color, and clearly, very, very patient.  Aunt Didi had paints and paint brushes, and all sorts of fun stencils.  The kids went crazy:

I can’t handle the emotional needs of 2 cats.  Can you imagine an entire farm full of horses?  Stephanie knows every last personality, temperament, age, mark, and story of these beautiful creatures:

I think the children were quite pleased with their final product, “Raquel, the Masterpiece”:

Maybe you’re thinking, “Well Lori, that IS a special party”, and I have to agree…BUT I’m not done!  The next piece of this party agenda is a GEM!  We drove to Stephanie’s boyfriend’s farm, also a family compound, where we were told there would be a barbecue.  And hey, good news!  His family has built a “few fun things” for kids to do around the runway/barbecue area.  They have a pilot in the family, and they needed a runway, and well, if you’re going to build a runway, why not spend 40 years building a full party compound to surround it?  I’d do it!  If I had a plane, 40 years, a big family full of endless talent…

The entire area was fully enclosed by mature pine trees, and we were greeted by this 4 table eating enclosure hooked to a fully stocked camper with working kitchen.  Ceiling fans, lights, hanging chairs…so spotless…it was just too cool.  They mentioned a “sandbox”, which for Kelly, would have been great.  Except, it was an entire desert, anchored by a castle, where she and Cousin Dawson played for hours:

A horseshoe area, and that cabin?  That’s the 5 star bathroom.  No joke:

There was a pool and full beach volleyball court.  But wait!  That’s not even the best part!  By far, the neatest feature was the cabin.  A custom built kid-sized log cabin:

Fully outfitted with a play kitchen, fireplace, kitchen table and decor:

The kids went inside, turned on the lights, and that was the last we saw of them.  This little cabin was so pristine, a speck of dust wouldn’t have dared to settle inside of it:

They came out every once in a while, in full pioneer costumes.  I didn’t mention the complete Little House on the Prairie wardrobe inside?

Oh how we celebrated Miss A turning 6.  We turned on the grill and Jenny and Jason put out a full spread.  Stephanie made fresh strawberry lemonade.  There were two kinds of cake because Avery shares a birthday with my now 85 year old Grandfather.  It was too cold to bob for apples without lighting up the fire pit (darn you burn ban!), but there were favor bags I copied from a horse party we attended a few weeks ago (big thanks to Angelia and Georgia for letting me duplicate their neat ideas).  First I bought pony shoes, scrubbed them, and painted them gold on both sides:

Golden Horseshoes are lucky, if you are a city slicker and didn’t know this important tidbit.  The kids thought they were a riot.  Then I wrapped them up with horse stickers and candy and other party what-nots in bandanas:

We said a sad goodbye after the sun had set, because parties like this should never end.  The weather was perfect and the surroundings were heaven blessed. By the end of the evening, we were all wrapped in sweaters and jackets, relieved to see Fall make her grand appearance.  Jay, the kind host of the party, was near us the entire evening, but in his Harvester, as we saw him zig-zagging through his corn.  I’d like to thank Jay and Stephanie for making Avery’s birthday so special.  It’s now a proven fact: you can’t beat an Indiana Farm Birthday Party.