Birthday Party of the (19th) Century

This past month or so we have been looking at what life was like in the 19th century so for Michelle's special 13th birthday party, we decided to have a mid 19th century picnic. We addressed the invitations to the "Ladies of the Household", inviting both the mothers and daughters which meant we ended up with 25 people, including 15 girls aged between three and seventeen. We held it at a friend's property in the Adelaide Hills which was the perfect setting. Everyone got into the spirit of things, from responding to the invitation in "typical"(??) 19th century fashion, to dressing up for the occasion. We laid out picnic rugs on the sloping lawns and had a variety of games for the girls to play eg. pick up sticks, jacks, old maid cards, badminton, skipping ropes etc. The girls ate out on the rugs while the ladies ate their high tea in style in the parlour. Following family photos by the resident photographer (yes, cameras were around then!), we played some games - relay races like pass the bonnet and egg and spoon race. We had a three legged race for the girls then they convinced us that we should have a mother/daughter three legged race! That was interesting! After all the frivolity, we went inside for Michelle to open her presents. As everyone headed home after four and half hours, we realised that we had forgotten to have the birthday cake!
Michelle declared that this was her best birthday party ever and I would say it was the one that I enjoyed the most. It achieved everything that I wanted it to. It was a fitting finale to our study of the 19th century, it developed relationships both young and old and it celebrated Michelle's entry into the teenage years in style! I was especially impressed with the way that such a diverse range of ages and personalities could get along so well, for the most part without adult intervention. The majority of the girls were from our church and they all get on beautifully. It was lovely to see the older ones look after the younger ones and to see them all enjoying each others company and for the most part, making their own fun.
Here are a couple of photos from the day.





Happy Birthday Michelle!