Penny's ladybug treasure hunt party

Penny had her birthday party today, and what a fun party it was! We'd invited a lot of her little friends from our apartment, but it turned out only a couple could attend. It's a long weekend, and there's a lot going on because of the holiday. So the party was a little smaller than I'd anticipated, but that was a good thing. I think for me it meant I could relax and enjoy it a bit more than trying to juggle and lead a bunch of activities. 

A friend introduced me to party packs from Oriental Trading Company. Basically, for $20 you get some cute matching invitations, plates, cups, cutlery, napkins, table cloths, balloons, streamers, and confetti. I don't usually put much effort into this type of thing, and this way, for the same noneffort, I can have cute matching stuff-- plus decorations!

Penny and her friends enjoying their lunch. They decorated little plant pots (bottom left) with stickers, and that covered one activity plus a party favor.

Kevin and his friends marveling over the wondrous taste of apple soda.
Whatever. I like it.

Penny opening some presents 

Penny saying "thank you" for her hair bows

The big activity for the party was a treasure hunt.

The kids found clues all over the apartment building. The first ones were easier:  "Look in the piano bench." 

Then they ran all over the house before finding the stroller.

It's a good thing the clues were pretty straightforward.

It took three of them to find the next clue.

Go downstairs to the ping-pong room!

They stopped to play some ping-pong.

But eventually Penny found the next clue.

Naomi helped find the treasure too!

The treasure box was hidden somewhere in Penny's room.

They found the little box of 1-kuai coins. Yahoo! They're rich!!

But what good is treasure if you don't use it to buy something?

Aha! The real treasure!

Ice cream from McDonald's!

Who doesn't love some ice cream on a summer day?

Naomi doesn't, actually.

But here are the victorious treasure hunters!

Well, Naomi doesn't like ice cream when offered, but she's perfectly happy to steal some from her mom. 

Chocolate cupcakes and an awesome birthday party!

And Naomi enjoyed her sister's cake maybe even more than her own birthday cake!