5th Birthday!

We had the boys' 5th party at the Westerville Community Center.  Being March, you can't predict the weather, so a destination party is the safest choice.  I chose a games party since pool parties require an adult for each kid and there was no way I was wearing a suit in public.

I made the invites and printed them with Mixbook.  Notice the theme: Whales and Crocodiles.  We made it work.

Front

5

Back

 Before the other guests arrived, we played.

The Cake came with the party, baked at a local bakery.

The kids played Duck Duck Goose.

And some fun parachute games.  Ages 3-5 don't follow directions very well, but they still had fun.  They'll appreciate this one day.  

The favorite game was "Cat and Mouse".  One kid underneath (mouse), the other on top (cat), everyone else making waves.  The cat had to catch the mouse.

snacks!

 Make a wish!

The birthday boys!  Notice their shirts?  Blue Whale and a Crocodile :)

Gifts!

We gave all our friends our favorite books.  "Whale of a Tale" from Louden and "Miles and Miles of Reptiles" from Keegan.

Our best attempt at a group photo. 

& the Thank you card, which I made and had printed from Mixbook.  There was a place on the back for notes.  I wrote the note, the boys wrote their names.  I do this every year, I love that everyone gets a picture from the day.

Obligatory family shot in the windy parking lot.

Overall: Success!  Low stress, not too much fuss from mommy and all the kids had a blast!

4 Years Old, Superhero Style

Louden & Keegan turned 4 and decided on a Superhero Theme.  I booked Central Park Playland SIX months in advance since I missed out on it last year.  It was AWESOME.  The location was great, price was reasonable, and no parents were stressed (that I know of anyway).  I had grand ideas for getting crafty, but my time ran out.  6 days before the party, Jason tells me we *have* to do capes.  Off to JoAnn's I went.  Here are the photos:

Personalized capes with grab bags of superhero candy, silly straws, and stickers.

A friend made cupcakes for me, I found the toppers online.

the Main event.  A little intimidating, but even the smallest kids tried it out.

We seen kids for a limited time, this was a popular stop

The Birthday boys

Louden growling

The Birthday Song

The smallest guest

Group Photo

Show us your capes!!!!  The super fancy capes are from  Baby Pop including L&Ks, last year's gift from the BK Special. 

Even Papa had a cape

Instant fast: just add cape

The Murrays

Silly shot, I'm normal, right?

More Murrays.....Papa & DG

Jason & his Mom (aka Grandma)

Presents

We do presents at home, less chaos.  Maybe not less, but less spectators to partake in the chaos-ness of giving 4 years presents at the same time.  We had a FANTASTIC time at this party.  Would be awful to book the same location forever?  This was so easy and I *think* everyone had fun, there were no drama moments in a room full of toddlers.  Are we still toddlers?  Preschoolers?  Nonetheless, it went GREAT.

LOVE my BOYS!!!!  So looking forward to the fun of 4 year olds!!!

Giddy Up, Party Down

This year, we decided to have a birthday party at a location, rather than at our house.  I knew right away that I wanted a cowboy theme.  Then I found this blog as inspiration.  I knew immediately that I was going to steal 

borrow these ideas.

I scraplifted some invitations from etsy. Notice the vinyl

 "brands".  That's all me :)

I made a banner.

I made the horsey cupcakes & cupcake toppers.

I made treat bags.

Cowboy(girl) hats were necessary.

The location didn't exactly match, but my mind was made up.  We rented The Jungle Gym in Delaware, Ohio.  Actually, I got a pleasant surprise that Grandma Jackie paid for the party as a gift to the boys.  What a perfect gift!!!  

Here are a few shots of the fun (excuse the blurs, everyone was in action nonstop). The zip line was favorite by far.  I still can't believe everyone could hold on.  Those kids were flying....

We served cowpoke food: hotdogs, pulled pork, chips, potato salad, carrot chips, and strawberries.  

Everyone Ate!

We had cupcakes.

We had a surprise guest:

Grandpa Bob drove up from TN while he was checking on his house being built.

Us (minus Kyle)

All the guests.  An attempt at a group shot:

Fail!

Everything was really nice.  Parties outside of your home is the way to go.  We had our party late, starting at 4:30 pm, so we had all day to prepare. I even managed to run that morning with MIT, 9 miles = new PR for Mama Murray!  We didn't make too much fuss over the party and everyone was happy.

The boys received a ton of gifts from their friends and have been enjoying them ever since.  Here is a photo of one of the gifts from B&K: 

masks are upside down :)  oops

Thanks everyone for reading & checking in on us.  We had a great time with a few special friends.  Now....BRING ON SPRING!!!!