Our sunshine girl turned four over the weekend. Let me give you a piece of advice: do not, I repeat, do NOT listen to ‘Stop this Train’ while setting up your baby girl’s birthday party. I can’t believe we’re already here! Keogena requested a Mermaid birthday party (a ‘purple and green’ mermaid party, to be exact) and I had so much fun setting up a simple party at home with family. This girl is so easy to celebrate. Here are some photos of the party, a few tips for how to have a celebration in COVID-19 times and a little roundup of the essentials that made this party come to life. 

We always start off every single birthday with balloons in the kids’ rooms. It’s a tradition I look forward to each year and the fourth-birthday edition did not disappoint. The second birthday tradition is that the kids get to eat sprinkle pancakes with all the fixins in bed while watching a show. The only other time they get to do this is on Mother’s Day with me so it always feels super special.

I’m shocked at how few photos I have from the day because I instead took a few videos and called it a day so a couple of the photos below are screenshots from video. We mostly relied on balloons, all the sequins and dessert to act as decor. We had a giant charcuterie board (I called it a sharkuterie board and was way too proud of that) and typical veggies and hummus for snacks and ‘Chicken of the Sea’ chicken salad croissant sandwiches, fish sticks and macaroni and a big salad for the main course. For dessert, my sister made mermaid cookies, dipped krispie treats, dipped pretzel rods and a funfetti cake. I picked up some macaroons, vegan/gf cupcakes and chocolate cake, some mini doughnuts and seashell lollipops. I also made some blue gelatin the night before which I hadn’t done since maybe third grade. I didn’t eat any but if it tasted as good as it smelled, we all need to be eating that stuff on the daily. 

We chose to have the majority of the party be with only family and invited three of her sweet friends to come for one hour. During that time, the kids stayed outside which I think is the best way to have peace of mind for a party these days. I picked up some little wooden chests and a bunch of craft paint and brushes so all the kids could paint a “treasure chest.” It was a a huge hit and acted as one activity before leading into the wear-yourself-out portion of the hour with friends: playing in the sprinkler. We got a little turtle attachment from Amazon and it made their dreams come true. I also had a big basket filled with towels waiting for the kids when it was time to sing, have cake and ice cream and open gifts.

We couldn’t love you more, Keogena Na’Airah. We’re so grateful to be your parents.

shop the majority of what I used for the party here–consider it your Mermaid Party cheat sheet: