One of my favorite summer events for children in Newport is the Mad Hatter (Iced) Tea Party at Ballard Park. The Alice In Wonderland-themed party is beautifully styled with colorful decorations hanging from the trees, tables topped with lovely linens, and trays artfully stacked with beautiful desserts and tea sandwiches. Kids run around in the late afternoon light, play croquet and decorate their own hats in the quarry meadow. The wooded walking trails come to life during a scavenger hunt as the Cheshire Cat, the Queen of Hearts and Alice herself dish out riddles once they are discovered.

I’ve looked forward to the day when I’d have a child to take to this party. Although I was shooting the event for the newspaper (are you recognizing a common theme here?), Evangeline was lucky enough to enjoy the delightful tea party with her Nonna and Kiki, who was visiting from New Orleans.

All of the beautiful desserts were from The Newport Sweet Shoppe.

Here are some of my favorite photos of the party from past years:

I took this one in 2010 when I was pregnant with Evangeline: