The party was a great success. Initially Elias wanted a Star Wars themed party at Pump It Up. There seems to be something abut turning 5 that makes these kids want a Pump It Up party because of all the PIU parties we've been to, I think all but one were for kids turning 5. But after a few weeks of discussing that idea, suddenly he changed his mind and wanted a beach party. There was no way I was planning a party at the beach with a 4 month old in tow, so I first tried to dissuade him to which he replied, "I know - how about a beach themed party at home!" My first reaction was, well, that's not much better. His third birthday party was held at home and it was so much work cleaning and decorating and getting ready before the party and then cleaning up all over again once the party guests left! But the more I thought about it, the more I realized the party could take place mostly outside and actually, maybe that would work better for the youngest member of the family who still likes to take three or four cat naps each day and is getting harder and harder to get to nap on the go!
And since we recently bit the bullet and hired a yard guy to maintain the areas outside of our house, I knew it would look relatively tidy around here.
I ordered invites from another Etsy seller this time around since I knew I wouldn't have time to design and make my own. For the actual party, in order to keep the party-goers outside, we rented a bouncy house and had water guns (getting water from the water table; the boys and a couple of the girls decided they'd better take their shirts off, so we had an interesting mix of shirtless kids and girls decked out in princess dresses), sidewalk chalk, and sand art bracelets to keep the kids busy.
Since we don't have many chairs I bought a bunch of beach mats and laid them out on the grass for kids and parents to sit and eat picnic style. For food we had a spread of pizza, sandwiches, mac 'n' cheese, fruit, veggies, chips, and crackers. For beverages we offered adults Corona beers and wine coolers in addition to soda and juice for the under-21 set. I think the alcohol was a big hit since a few parents have come up to me at preschool over the past week telling me what a fun party it was. I think we may have started a new tradition.
I've been sort of obsessing over Costco cakes for a couple of birthdays now, and this year seemed the perfect year to try one, with Daphne making DIY projects difficult and having more guests than at previous parties. The vanilla cake and filling itself were a little on the bland side - it would be nice if they offered a fruit filling instead - but the frosting was very satisfying in that store-made birthday cake way. Not bad for 18 bucks!
Fortunately, Elias was into all aspects of the party this year and did not melt down when it was time for party guests to sing him Happy Birthday like he did last year! Before the party he kept talking about how he was going to smash the cake in his face, wedding style.
Done! At this point we sort of rushed from cake to pinata as I sensed guests were ready to leave.
In future years I'll take out an activity or two (I always worry about having enough to do and then feel like I'm rushing through what I do have planned) and set an end-time for the party, something I didn't do this year. For the most part it worked out fine, with most guests leaving in that 2-3 hour window. But there was one guest whose parent didn't RSVP until the day before, requested to drop the kid off due to siblings' conflicting events, and then showed up an hour and a half later than planned to pick the kid back up! Never. Again.
For goody "bags", we handed out mini beach pails with seashells, flip flop keychains, and water guns tucked inside - something Elias helped out with the afternoon before - plus beach balls and balloons. Again, it was a little much, especially trying to get each kid the color balloon they desired before leaving. I finally got helium-filled balloons from a party store this time around and to be honest, I think they're a little overrated. Something else to file away for future parties...
That evening Elias enjoyed his very first "movie night," post-little-sister's-bedtime (and actually slept in the next morning until almost 8!), with Grandma Joanne.
It was a day that's been tough to top between his actual birthday and this weekend, but we've enjoyed a few additional birthday shenanigans, beginning with shark cupcakes (birthday boy's very specific request) at preschool on Friday. Here's video of his fellow preschoolers singing him happy birthday (I didn't realize until I watched the video back how focused he is on the candle during the entire song!), and two of the teachers granting his request of five chair lifts...
...plus a picture that one of the teachers took of the three of us (Neal was, obviously, working):
He opened a few small gifts from us that evening, including this Webkinz hedgehog - I can't remember how it started but it's become a bit of an inside/family joke. I think you can see that on his face even though the picture's not great.
And keeping with tradition, we're off to Fenton's in a bit. Normally we'd go on his actual birthday, but with it being on a Friday this year, by the time Neal gets home from work Daphne is about 30 minutes away from the final meltdown of the day. Hopefully an early dinner on a Sunday afternoon will work out a little better. I'll post an update from that adventure later this week!
Happy 5th Birthday, sweet boy! I think we've finally hit an age that, when people proclaim, "oh, that's a fun age," I can totally agree.
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