A commercial-free birthday party?

For Elena's birthday, we had a very low-key event which was only mildly birthday-themed. Erich's parents are out visiting for the entire week, which is already quite a treat. Today we had another family over to play. They have three children (ages 7, 5, and 2.5), all of whom Elena enjoys playing with. We served bagels and fruit salad. We made colour-your-own hats. We played with playdough that my mother, Elena and I made the day before (we made 18 cups of playdough in six colours, so we were able to send our friends home with some). We had whacky cake (thanks, Olsons!) frosted with maple frosting and decorated with Elena's name spelled out in almonds and dried cranberries. Our friends brought the most wonderful non-toy gifts: 1. a beautiful pot with dirt and seeds for Elena to plant 2. a small vase with some hand cut flowers that smell like honey (Elena loved this and carried it around, finding various decorative locations for it) 3. the eldest girl brought two books that she likes to read and sat down with Elena and read to her (always a cherished activity for Elena). All this in addition to coming over and playing with Elena! I will add pictures soon, but I wanted to jot down the basics of the party, which, was a big hit for all involved. (It would have made Mothering Magazine proud!)