Friday, September 05, 2008
summer birthdays
Since it's almost fall and I'm completely behind...
We had a small gathering in June on a weekend near R's 9th birthday. This was the first year where it really felt like another excuse for a party, but since that's kind of what the living kids' birthdays feel like, too, I took that in stride. We had 12 kids running around in our yard at various points in the morning and another who was too young to join in though he was fascinated to watch all the big kids. The kids played in the inflatable pools as well as using a lot of the other toys we pulled out of the garage. (Lesson learned: Don't pull out all the toys in the garage on a Saturday morning. We chased away 20+ people/cars who wouldn't believe that we weren't having a garage sale even with our kids in pools in the front yard!) We had fruit and chips and dip and juice, but the kids really hunkered down on the ice cream and cookies for the special occasion.
A month later on July 13th, it was J&T's turn. We had our typical birthday party at a nearby park for them. They were frustrated because half of their friends were on vacation again even though we intentionally chose a weekend not attached to July 4th in any way. Next year we may hold their party in May to avoid these issues, plus it'll be cooler!
J selected a unicorn theme, and we invited her friends to wear all their princess and fairy gear if they chose. There were some cute dressed up little girls there. She gave out unicorn suncatcher painting kits or unicorn needlepoints as party favors. She also helped set up a unicorn treasure hunt wherein the participants had to go find hidden beads so they could make magical necklaces and bracelets.
T chose a space theme (big surprise there!). T handed out space shuttle toys as party favors. We had some crafts where the kids could make UFOs, but the real space themed highlight of the party was launching rockets. Daddy-o looked like the pied piper leading all the kids over to the field at the park to launch the rocket. The kids were so patient while they set it up, and they all backed off appropriately for launch. After the rocket went up, the adults were scurrying trying to make sure the rocket wouldn't land on them. The kids, on the contrary, were chasing after the rocket. The first launch landed in the tennis courts. Daddy-o adjusted his aim despite my warnings against it, and set off the second launch. It went in the top of a 25' live oak tree. Game over even though we had three more engines. But the kids had fun while it lasted.
All three kids have declared that they want Star Wars themed birthdays next year. I guess we can handle that. They are going to be Anakin, young Obi Wan, and Leia for Halloween, so we'll definitely have appropriate costumes for such an event!
We had a small gathering in June on a weekend near R's 9th birthday. This was the first year where it really felt like another excuse for a party, but since that's kind of what the living kids' birthdays feel like, too, I took that in stride. We had 12 kids running around in our yard at various points in the morning and another who was too young to join in though he was fascinated to watch all the big kids. The kids played in the inflatable pools as well as using a lot of the other toys we pulled out of the garage. (Lesson learned: Don't pull out all the toys in the garage on a Saturday morning. We chased away 20+ people/cars who wouldn't believe that we weren't having a garage sale even with our kids in pools in the front yard!) We had fruit and chips and dip and juice, but the kids really hunkered down on the ice cream and cookies for the special occasion.
A month later on July 13th, it was J&T's turn. We had our typical birthday party at a nearby park for them. They were frustrated because half of their friends were on vacation again even though we intentionally chose a weekend not attached to July 4th in any way. Next year we may hold their party in May to avoid these issues, plus it'll be cooler!
J selected a unicorn theme, and we invited her friends to wear all their princess and fairy gear if they chose. There were some cute dressed up little girls there. She gave out unicorn suncatcher painting kits or unicorn needlepoints as party favors. She also helped set up a unicorn treasure hunt wherein the participants had to go find hidden beads so they could make magical necklaces and bracelets.
T chose a space theme (big surprise there!). T handed out space shuttle toys as party favors. We had some crafts where the kids could make UFOs, but the real space themed highlight of the party was launching rockets. Daddy-o looked like the pied piper leading all the kids over to the field at the park to launch the rocket. The kids were so patient while they set it up, and they all backed off appropriately for launch. After the rocket went up, the adults were scurrying trying to make sure the rocket wouldn't land on them. The kids, on the contrary, were chasing after the rocket. The first launch landed in the tennis courts. Daddy-o adjusted his aim despite my warnings against it, and set off the second launch. It went in the top of a 25' live oak tree. Game over even though we had three more engines. But the kids had fun while it lasted.
All three kids have declared that they want Star Wars themed birthdays next year. I guess we can handle that. They are going to be Anakin, young Obi Wan, and Leia for Halloween, so we'll definitely have appropriate costumes for such an event!
Labels: in Austin
# posted by TBnJ @ 2:27 PM 
