Years ago I remember telling the mister, in my best woe-is-me-voice, that I would never be a gramma.  He just nodded and told me I turned into a gramma when I was 30.  Whatta guy!  Although he did have a point.  I was born to be a gramma...I like nothing better than to spoiling children and send them on their way, which is  Rule #1 in the Gramma Handbook.  But I was impatient and time moved very slowly - finally, after the girl had been married for eight loooooooooong years, Max was born and I officially became a gramma!   Four years after Max arrived we won the lottery a second time and Elsa was born.  And I know you've heard this a million times but it's true, it seems like it was just yesterday when that happened.  Now our little princess is five and she needed a princess party!

Elsa was very sure of what she wanted for her birthday - a cake with Ariel on top!  So this is what I came up with.  (I ordered the Ariel, which is a resin-carved Jim Shore creation, from Amazon.)  Of course, Ariel had to have some of her ocean friends around her and she had to be in "water"...Jell-O Jigglers to the rescue!  All the kids loved the Jell-O, except Elsa, who wouldn't even touch one!  Elsa could not have been happier with her cake - she loved everything about it, and said, "I didn't think I would like the frosting but I did!"  (The week before her birthday Elsa would Facetime me every day to ask me about her Ariel Cake...she loves cake as much as her gramma!)

Elsa and her little friends were very surprised when Ariel herself showed up for the party!  So naturally, Elsa changed into her Ariel costume from Halloween!

Ariel had the kids mesmerized from the get-go!  She told them a story about living under the sea and sang to them (she had a beautiful voice!) and let them listen to the ocean with a shell and she even gave them all little plastic forks to comb their wigs hair! 

After an hour and a lot of pictures, Ariel had to leave to get back to the sea.  The kids lined up to hug her and then waved and watched as she swam away... 

Happy Birthday sweet Elsa - I hope all your dreams come true!