Emily's 13th Birthday Party!!!

For the past year, Emily has been talking about going ice skating for her birthday. So, about a month out, I emailed a place in East Lansing (since the one on the west side has been out of business for years) to schedule her party.  Because of games and practices at the arena, her party ended up being at 530 at night!!!!  

Despite the late start, and distant venue, she had several sweet friends join her to celebrate 13!!!

The night before her party, we made her cake.  We used crushed up lollipops to make her name.  It looked really good!

But less good by the time the party started. = ( lol.

Everyone skated up, but before getting out on the ice we snapped a group picture.

Ella repeated her awesome tendency to make sure that the twins were included in the event.

At a rummage sale I found purple and yellow gift bags, so those became the theme colors for Emily's party!  She filled them with rocks, fruit by the foot, & gushers.

Keeping with the Crocker tradition, Emily included ice skating rocks in each of her goody bags.  = )

In an exact opposite occurrence from William's party, they had an excess amount of time for skating, and ended up hovering around the table scarfing down veggies and gluten free chips, while waiting for the pizzas.

Despite buying and psyching myself up to bake a gluten free pizza option, I totally forgot until it was time to walk out the door.  Thankfully, Billy was able to stay behind to tend the pizza and join us later.  And, as a big surprise, Avia arrived earlier in the day and made the drive over to celebrate with Emily!!!

Poor Abby, despite my best efforts her pizza was cold by the time she got it, but we did our best to warm it between the fresh pizzas for a bit, so it wasn't stone cold.  

The lollipops on the cake were a truly terrible idea, since they made the cake taste fruity and look terrible, though the cake wasn't too bad if you scraped off the icing. = )

The skate time ended so that an evening hockey game could start.  Billy and the other dad*, as well as William spent most of the remainder of the party enjoying the game.

Even the end of the party wasn't a sad event, since Abby got to come spend the night. Emily had a great time, and I think she felt super loved by all who came to celebrate with her!  

later days

*Josh is Julie's dad, and he hung out for the duration.  They say everything happens for a reason, and the late start party was perfect for him, since he works third shift during the week!  So, despite my annoyance, it was a good thing for someone! = )

edited 3-28-24: backdated for continuity.