Invasion of the Ninja Warriors

Having your birthday fall during the cool weather season and during a major holiday week makes party planning difficult. However, that was not what Kevin and I thought about when we had kids and we ended up with one baby born the week of Thanksgiving and the other with a birthday that often collides with Easter. Needless to say parties can be tricky as people are often out of town. Plus, the weather can be iffy that time of year and I prefer outside parties if possible as cramming ten second-graders in my house and the place might not survive. There is a lot of energy packed in those little bodies!

This year we devised a clever plan. We have learned through trail and error that we seem to get better turn-out having parties after school on Friday. So we picked two Fridays and watched the forecast hawks. Then when it looked like the first one would be rain free, Jack took invitations to school and handed them out. This year we lucked out and the weather was more than rain-free, it was a downright gorgeous day to be an American Ninja Warrior.

 

Both the kids love watching this show and are always trying to make their own elements in the house. Mom, is a bit of a killjoy about that though. It came to us that setting one up for a Birthday party would be a great way to keep the kids moving and engaged and Jack was all for it. Most of the course is made from firewood logs, pallets, and wood scraps we had lying around the place. The only board we bought was for the teeter-totter (even the pipe that acts as fulcrum was a “found lying around” piece). The kids had a BLAST!

(Author’s Note: The course pictures are not mine. An awesome Mom offered to take some picture for me with my Camera since Kevin and I were busy wrangling kids…I am eternally grateful!)

We timed them all once, but by the end they were just practicing different elements and coming up with ways to terrifying me on the teeter-totter. In the between playing on the course we did manage to squeeze in some Birthday cupcakes and a Piñata. I mean if you're going to  put them through their paces why not throw some sugar in the mix?

The only real bummer of the whole day was there was just enough breeze that I couldn’t get the candles on the cake to light. Everyone was fine with faking it…..guess we’ll save candles for his actual birthday. Here’s the whole party crew. I’ve been told that they had a great time by several Moms, and one kid cried when he had to leave so I’m going to mark this party a success. Now I just have to wrap my head around the fact we have an eight-year old……

Happy Number 5!

Wednesday was Emilie's 5th Birthday.....had one of those moments where you think, "Man that went fast" when I realized my youngest was five. Yep, I've got a seven year old and a five year old. Seems like I had a newborn and a toddler yesterday... I'm sure they'll be driving tomorrow.

We hosted a party for her last Saturday with some friends from school and dance class. It was Peppa Pig themed and I was surprised who many of the kids knew who that was...guess it's gaining popularity on this side of the pond. The kids made edible bracelets and necklaces, played freeze-dance, and pin the cake on Peppa, but the big hit turned out to be meeting "Peppa Pig" herself. Yes the Guniea Pig and the chicks stole the show. Peppa got loaded down with carrots and the chicks were throughly cuddled. What more could little girls ask for.

Her Birthday itself turned out to be a rather busy day. She'd asked for doughnuts and chocolate milk for breakfast, so my day started early and at 7am I found myself in the Swensen's parking lot waiting for the manager to flip on the OPEN sign so her breakfast request could be filled. After breakfast we got ready and headed off to school where we dropped of Jack and registered for Kindergarten. Go figure her birthday fell on the exact day to sign up for school. After getting all signed up she was ready to have me take her to Kindergarten...NOW! Took some convincing on my part, but I think she'll be okay wait until fall to start.

Grocery shopping was next on the list, then dance class, and an LWML meeting with Mommy at church. By the time that was finished we had an hour to kill before pick-up time for brother which makes it pointless to go home since Church and school are next-door to each other.  So, we helped a friend from church tie some baby blankets she was trying to finish. Emilie is a pretty good pin keeper. Kathy put in the ties, I tied them, and Emilie removed the pins. We finished off two blankets and still had a few minutes to play on the playground before pick-up time.

After that it was home for homework and then off to Gertie's (pizza buffet) for dinner. They have a little arcade room which is the main selling point for the kids. Riding the mechanical pony and playing race car games makes for a good party.

We came for cake, ice cream, and gifts, then sent a couple of throughly tired kids to bed. What a fun day to turn five.

Happy Birthday Jack

Our ‘little’ boy is seven! Somehow we wound up with two kids whose birthdays fall within a week (and sometimes days) of major holidays. It can make planning tricky and you have to be willing to be fluid. This year was no exception.

Since we were going to be going to visit my family for Thanksgiving we decided to do his party once we got there so all Jack’s cousins could come. Still we had some plans to do some fun family things on his actual birthday, the 23rd, but most of those got put on hold because we ended up needing to leave early in order to get ahead of the weather travel-wise. We were able to hold off leaving until after school so he got to take Monster Truck cupcakes to class (this was a HUGE deal for him) , but his choice of dinner at the Hot Rod Grille was postponed until later. He did get to spend his Birthday in a Hotel near his favorite truck stop, go swimming in the pool, and get Dairy Queen ice cream though. Turns out this makes for a pretty awesome 7th birthday.

For his party itself he wanted Monster Trucks. Thankfully this is a fairly easy theme for a travelling birthday. With all his cousin’s being boys there were a plethora of Monster Trucks around for decorations and Granny was more than willing to help set up her dining room for a kid party. For the cake my sister ordered me a plain chocolate sheet cake from Costco. All I had to do was pick it up and decorate the top (Thanks to the cousins for the Hot Wheels loaners). If you are travelling for a birthday or not a cake baker but want to decorate your cake yourself….totally the way to go. This was a snap.

I mentioned he invited all his cousins to his party. That is six little boys (the oldest is almost 8) plus Emilie. We took them all bowling and that was a riot. My bowling skills are sub par and the kids were not afraid to inform me that my final score was lower than ALL of theirs (Hey, I broke 50 and I wasn’t using bumpers like some people). Just glad to be a source of amusement to them.

After bowling we adjourned to Grandpa and Granny’s for pizza, cake, and presents. Jack introduced the kids to the game, “Find the Quarter” which he learned at school and is a great party game as it has most of the kids sitting down and using fast or slow clapping to navigate the chosen ‘it’ to a hidden coin. They also tried some Simon Says.

He was very excited about his party day all around and really enjoyed all his gifts. Thank you to all for the warm wishes and for helping to make his special day just that.

Happy Birthday Emilie!

Our baby girl is 4. Man, that went fast!

Seeing as her birthday fell the day after Easter this year we tried to space out the sugar by holding her party until Friday. Still, she did get to open her ‘big gift’ from Mom and Dad, her first big kid bike, on Monday.

She also chose to have Arctic Circle (at the restaurant) for dinner, capped with cupcakes and opening presents from her aunts, uncles, and cousins when we got home. She was so excited about everything! Containing that excitement until her party took some effort and a lot of patience on my part.

The one thing she really, really, really wanted this year was a ‘pony party.’ Despite her brother’s suggestion, this did not mean she got an actual pony (she’s just going to have to make-do with the goat). Pony party meant we drug out the My Little Pony collection and went to town. Seeing as she is the only female grandchild on my side of the family (well both sides…for the time being) she has been handed down the My Little Pony’s of two aunts and a mother. That makes for a whole tub-full of Pony’s. Literally I have a big Rubbermaid tote brim full of Pony’s. She was allowed to decorate with them all over the living room.

 

We also set up a Stick Horse obstacle course in the backyard and made a ‘balloon drop’ in the living room. Then we let the party begin. She was allowed three friends and basically all the kids just played. We fed them dinner and cake, or course, and just let them play as they will. They had a great time!

The Balloon drop turned out to be a hit and a great alternative to a Piñata (thanks Mom for the idea). Some of the balloons had prizes for the kids and the confetti just added to the thrill of it all. Totally recommend it for those planning their own kid parties.

Emilie was absolutely spoiled with love and well-wishes from family, friends, and even strangers (seriously, she was telling everyone who would listen at the grocery store that is was her birthday and she was 4. Kid you not an old man gave her a quarter for the occasion. She used it to buy herself a gumball.) Thank you all for the love you give our little girl!

Rock Creek Light and Happy Birthday to Me

Tis the Season so they say….. the season where everyone becomes incredibly busy. Don’t get me wrong, I love it and I’m careful to keep us from becoming so busy we don’t enjoy things.  However between all our normal activities and Christmas ones things like blogging get set aside for a time.

I have a few minutes this morning though and I thought I’d get you all caught up.

First up, the lights at Rock Creek. We went to see this spectacular show last Friday night. As usual it was phenomenal. Plus we don’t have to take a stroller anymore which is even better. The kids were mesmerized by the lights and had great fun picking out different strings, banana lights, pizza lights, Pillsbury dough boy, leg lamps, you name it it was probably there.

Jack enjoyed the miniature village because it had a small airport and landing strip. That took the village awesomeness rating from about a 6 to a 12. He kept dragging us back to it, “look at the airport!”

Emilie impressed me with her observation skills. Not only was she looking at the stuff around her at eye level but she was noticing thing way up in the trees over her head. Not to shabby for a 3 year old or a lot of adults for that matter.

Kevin and I managed to work on one of my resolutions for the year which is “Take more pictures of the two of us together.” I realized when I started looking for a photo to put on the Christmas card that I’d been woefully lax in taking pictures of just us. So I guess that can be my New Years resolution.

The only downside to the lights was that Bull the camel wasn’t there. He swallowed a carrot wrong this past fall and sadly has passed onto camel heaven. He is definitely missed. Still the light are fantastic one ton Camelidae or not. If your in the neighborhood (this includes anywhere in the Magic Valley) it’s worth the trip.

The next big event was my birthday on Monday. Yep I’ve survived 32 years and I’m looking good to do another 60 or so. This year my birthday was on a Monday so there was the typical Monday chores that had to be completed. Jack had to be dropped off/picked up at school. Grocery shopping and laundry needed doing (if we wanted food and clothes anyway) and the kids had their last swim lesson of the year (they both passed their current level and will be moving up in January BTW). Still we made it special. Emilie and I stopped by the Espresso Heaven for fru-fru coffee and a kid’s cocoa before grocery shopping. Kevin did the dishes and loaded/ran the dishwasher for me (trust me folks – this is a huge deal for me).

After swim lessons we went out for a pizza dinner at Gertie’s Brick oven Pizza. Not only is it a pizza buffet but it also has a little room full of arcade games and is decorated with old airplanes hanging from the ceiling (and it’s right next to the railroad tracks) the kids love it. After dinner it was home for cake, ice cream, and gifts. I was spoiled once again. Thank you all. Near or far I definitely felt loved by my friends and family. Now onward to 33.

Bouncing up a Storm

Yesterday was Jack’s 6th Birthday Party. While his actual birthday isn’t for another week, given our Thanksgiving plans and the fact that a lot of people travel this time of year we decided to have his friend party a little early. Of course Mother Nature had the last laugh and dumped snow/ice in the days leading up to his party. Still, two friends, along with Emilie braved the elements and made it out to Jump Time.

Jump Time is an indoor trampoline park with all sorts of things to bounce on from trampolines to a foam pit, and even some inflatables. The kids had a blast bouncing from one element to the next. The favorite was ‘the hovercraft’, as Jack called it. This was an inflatable obstacle course. I think he got the name from the thick rubber skirting around the bottom and all the blowing air, two key components of a hovercraft. They must have spent almost an hour running through that….I was even informed there were mummies in there. I didn’t see any myself but that’s what I was told.

(Unfortunately Jump Time is located in a large light sucking warehouse. Perfect for trampolines, not perfect for photography, especially when the kids are constantly in motion. My photos of the kids playing are pretty blurry…oh well, I wasn’t going to stop their fun.)

Included with his birthday package the facility also provided pizza and water, they would have provided cupcakes too but we brought our own cake. Add to it they also did set up and clean up and we got two hours of jumping for up to six kids and this party was fantastic from a parent perspective! Jack and the kids had a fantastic time too. Totally keeping this in my list of birthday options!

With pictures being tough to take I did get a little video. Bear in mind I’m no Spielberg, but here is the birthday crew jumping in the foam pit.