Princess Hayley's Medieval Birthday Adventure

Picture of the Day for 9/20/2013. My great-niece Hayley turned 14 today. This momentous event was marked by an all-day birthday celebration. I picked her up after school and we met her mother Chantal for lunch at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. Hayley ordered a cheese quesadilla which she observed was too cheesy. Chantal and I were appalled. There's no such thing as too much cheese. Ever. What blasphemy. We informed Hayley she was not showing proper deference to cheese and would be required to undergo extensive cheese therapy and cheese education. We had her laughing so hard she almost spewed her Dr. Pepper a couple of times. Hayley thinks Chantal and I are beyond odd. 

After lunch, Hayley and I spent some time shopping for fun and then we ended up at a dollar store for party supplies so she could transform my home into a medieval setting for her medieval-themed birthday party. She was pretty creative. She bought yellow plates to represent the brass or gold plates medieval royalty would have used. 

She also decorated white paper cups with pink jewels to transform them into luxurious goblets.

For a final touch, Hayley placed banners adorned with jewels and fleur-de-lys pictures on either side of my front door. A royal party demands a royal entrance. Duh.

Just to torment Hayley, I wore the big red wax lips you can buy at Halloween. This totally creeped her out. You take your chances when you willingly spend an afternoon with Aunt Michelle is all I have to say. 

Once all the preparations were complete, we met the rest of the family for dinner at the Training Table. 

After dinner, the entire family returned to my house for presents and brownies/ice cream. Here is Hayley striking a royal pose.

We sat Hayley at the table of honor so she could open her presents away from the riff-rafff and we could observe her royal magnificence from afar. I love the look on Ethan's face in the picture below. He commented, in a supremely disgusted tone of voice, that this was more of a princess party than a true medieval celebration. He was no doubt hoping swords and weaponry would make an appearance. And just because I'm mentioning Ethan right now, I'll include a picture of his t-shirt which made me laugh.

I think the party was a success! Everyone lingered until well after 10 pm which is rather unusual for a family birthday party.

I believe the birthday princess had a fabulous day and even more important, she got a lot of birthday loot.