“If you see a friend without a smile; give him one of yours.”

This morning, Lauren and I got to head to Mandie's house for a playdate! We were told to bring our little ones in their swimming suits and that we were having a themed play time. Lauren and I were super excited so see our friends and well, since we are all about themes, we were all about this party!!!

I have to give Mandie such praise for this playdate. It was fun from the very beginning to the very end! In fact, Lauren did not want to go home! We started off by sitting around in a circle while Mandie talked to the kids about the story of Noah from Genesis. She brought out the Little People Noah's Ark and their children's Bible to share the story. All the kids got to touch some of the animals in the ark and Lauren was enthralled!

She made all of the kids a little white paper bird that had wings that flapped when you moved it up and down and she talked about how Noah sent the white dove out to find any sign of vegetation. She had the kids get up and pretend to be birds looking for twigs with leaves on them. Lauren found hers with a little help from me!

Next, she let the kids play with a big basket full of all types of animals while she went to change into...Noah! She wore a white robe and made a headdress thing! It was great. She brought out a brown blanket and told the kids it was her ark. She had them each grab two animals and bring them into the ark. It was fantastic! She played them a music video about Noah while they sat in the ark with their animals. =)

When the video was over, she talked about how the flood had gone down and now everyone could get out of the ark. Precious!!!

Once all the kids got up and moved around for a bit, Mandie moved us into the kitchen for a Noah's Ark craft! She had everything ready and it was such an easy transition. Loved it!

Blue paper for the water + manilla file folders cut into the shape of an ark + animal crackers + glue + half of a paper plate + paints in the colors of the rainbow + q-tips = ONE FUN CRAFT!

Aren't those the cutest?

Since the playdate was Noah themed, we went outside to have some fun in the water. Mandie had set up a shady spot for us moms, a sand and water table, a little pool full of water, a fun sprinkler, Kyler's truck, and their red wagon. The kids had a blast moving from one water themed activity to the next. =)

She also provided snacks for the kids. The big hit was the watermelon. Look at these watermelon faces - the cuteness is almost too much!

We had such a fun time! Thanks, Mandie for going to the extra effort to make it so memorable!