We're off to see the Wizard

"Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high there's a land I heard of once in a lullaby
Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue"

Karin's birthday is in March, so we never get to celebrate with her on her big day.  So, while they were visiting in the summer we threw her a Wizard of Oz themed birthday party. 

When Karin was a little girl, she went through a phase were she was obsessed with the Wizard of Oz.  She would call our mom and dad, Auntie Em and Uncle Henry, she was Dorthy, and  Muggins, the family scottie dog was, of course, Toto.  So, what better theme for our sweet oldest sister then, the wonderful wizard of oz.

Bethy had been dreaming up the details of this party for years, she was excited to finally get the opportunity to make them come to life .... it was such a magical party.

My mom has the best collection of all the old Oz books.  She would read them to my older sisters every night before bed, that was before my time ...  The covers are gorgeous, I especially love the art Nouveau ones.

As everyone arrived, they were invited participate in some games and receive a prize for each completed level:

Solve a riddle for a diploma 

Complete a simple act of kindness for a heart cookie or sucker 

Share an experience of when you were brave and receive a medal

I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of the food!  We had a country southern meal made up of fried chicken, corn on the cob, coleslaw, cornbread and poppy cupcakes for dessert!  Such a perfect meal.

After dinner we made tornadoes in bottles for the kids, and lets be honest the adults loved it too.  Isn't Bethy the most clever party planner that ever was!  Such a perfect activity to fit the theme! 

Then it was time to sing and open a few presents!

The last activity was for the ladies, we each got to decorate a ruby slipper! 

After we were done, we brought them inside and the guys wanted to see if they could guess who had decorated which shoe.  John did awesome, he guessed all of them correctly!  He must really know all of our personalities, I totally thought the way we decorated our slippers was a total representation of our different personalities.

What a fabulous party

Thank you Bethy for making it so amazing

and Thank you Karin for being born and being such a sweet older sister

we all adore you!  

Happiest of belated birthdays to you