Febuary Birthdays

The same weekend as the children's birthday, we had two other birthday parties to attend AND Chinese New Year celebrations.  The birthday parties were both on the same day and both in late afternoon/enening, but because Monday was Chinese New Year school holiday, we could attend both and stay up late parting the night away! First up was Ryan's 4th Birthday at My Gym.  Ryan is a Batman fanatic so he and Cameron are great friends at school.  I realized after that I only really got pictures of Cameron at My Gym because she was really trying to tackle each apparatus.  Timo was running around like a crazy boy with his buddies, enjoying all the open space.  Happy Birthday Ryan, thanks for having us join your party!!

Our next stop was Pump It Up for Angali's 5th Birthday!  I think this is the kind of party that parents and kids alike really enjoy!  

This tower was really funny.  I started out doing it, trying to help Timo get the flags as high as I could.  Then Young thought he could do it better, so he gave it a try.  Then, one by one, each adult thought they could get the flag at the very top.  Before we know it, I looked around and all the adults were playing the flag tower and no one was watch the children on all the other inflatables.  One adult finally got the flag to the top, yeah for Aaron!  Now back to watching the kids!

This was something new...a wind tunnel.  All the kids pilled in and and the winds went up to 65mph.  I think Timo did this about 100 times!

Cameron really wanted to try and reach the top so Young was picking her up and literally throwing her up!  She loved it.

Can't even have a party without these three getting together to discuss church business.  Luckily I found Young and Bobby relaxing and enjoying a little friendly baseball competition....

It was really late by the time we entered the party room (8:30) for pizza and my little man was out of energy.  Granted, they had just had pizza and cupcakes at My Gym, so no one could blame him for not being hungry.  But he almost feel asleep in my arms, perking up only when Angali started opening her gifts.  Cameron, of course, had no problem putting away her second birthday cake of the night.  Happy Birthday Angali!! We had a blast at your party!!

Birthday Party #2--CAIS

Timo and Cameron had another birthday celebration at their school a few days after their party. Parents are invited to bring a snack and share a special time with the class and teachers on the child's actual birthday...but because we were leaving for NC on the twins' birthday, we did our class celebration the day before, on the 13th. I made jello cups for the class, trying to find something that take into consideration all the allergies...nuts, eggs, dairy. The kids loved it and Timo and Cameron loved being able to take part in the birthday tradition of "walking a year around the earth" that their teacher, Mrs. Rackham does to visualize turning anther year older..see video.

Presents!

We didn't have time to open the gifts at the party but Timo and Cameron saw each one come in and were having a really hard time waiting till we got home to open them. I wanted to be able to have them read each card, realize who the gift was from and for me to be able to write down each gift information, so we had to wait. So after cleaning the party up and a short nap, (which seemed like YEARS to Timo), they were finally able to dive right in!

Each of them got such amazing gifts!  We are so bless to have great friends that think about each of our children, their personalities and the things they are passionate about...and be able to pick out the perfect gift.  Here a few highlights, certainly no shortage of super hero and star wars!!

Cameron got this special unicorn from one of her classmates, Francis.  They play baby unicorns together on the playground almost daily so this was so touching that she wanted Cameron to have a baby unicorn.  Cameron LOVES it.  Another classmate, Sienna, gave them these Beanie Ballz because Timo is always asking to play with her personal one when she brings it in to school.  Timo got one just like hers and Cameron got a rainbow caterpillar because Sienna and Cameron draw rainbows together in class.  So touching how these little ones pick out the perfect gifts for one another.

I didn't get pictures of some of the other fun gifts but I could tell some parents had been reading our blog...Cameron got a great Berestain Bears dinosaur book (thanks Ana!) and Timo received this treasured marshmallow bow and arrow!  We also received a great bible for their age and bible study books, legos, some great early reader books, lots of crafts and a few new games! (we LOVE games!)  Thank you cards are one their way, but in the meantime, thank you all who love on our family and take such good care of us and love our children.  We are so blessed to call you all friends!

  

SuperHero/ Star Wars Birthday Party!

This year our theme was a combination of Superhero/Star Wars! Cameron and Timo are both individuals that happen to have the same birthday...so we tried our best to accommodate each of their birthday party wishes into one. We batted around unicorns, dinosaurs, soldiers, tanks and cowboy parties, but superheros and Jedi seemed to go hand in hand, so we went with it. The invitations asked everyone to come dressed as their favorite super hero or Jedi and I was so happy that almost everyone participated!  I felt so safe with over 35 little superheros surrounding us!!  So much fun!!  Cameron and Timo dressed their part...

As each guest arrived, they started at the mask table and were given a "Superhero Training" card.

Cameron and Timo were such the little social butterflies!  I could hear them shout each friend's name as they walked through the door.  With the arrival of each friend, they became more and more ecstatic.  My only regret of the whole party was not getting a group picture of everyone...ugh!  But here are some shots of all the different costumes. (super heros out numbered the Jedi, unfortunately)

Once everyone had arrived, we had lunch, "Hero Sandwiches", "Power Chips", and "X-Ray Vision Sticks" (carrots).  Again, didn't get a picture of all the food...note to self next year, have someone taking pictures for me so I don't have to do it all.

Then we started the "challenges".  Using the Force or x-ray vision to guess what objects were in the boxes.

Pin the light saber on Yoda!  I'm was so surprised how patiently everyone waited in line for this game.  Young did such great job drawing Yoda. And the parents thanked me for having it, saying they hadn't seen "pin the tail" type game for years at any birthday party.

But the biggest hit by far was the training obstacle course!  I spent over an hour the night before setting all of this up and it was so worth it.  Everyone lined up, watching as Timo demonstrated how the course worked.  You stared off going through a galaxy far, far away...

Leap tall buildings in a single bound...

make your way through the laser beam field...

walk over the frozen ocean waves...and crawl through the volcano mountain...

Toss the huge boulder out of your way and balance over the hot lava pit!  Everyone loved it and went through it over and over and over again.  So much fun.

The last task on in their training challenge was eat a cupcake!!  I wanted to make Cameron and Timo a cake each but they both only wanted cupcakes, so that's what we did.  I tried to personalized them as much as I could...and everyone got to pick out the cupcake they wanted.

We also served Super Man super pops!  What a treat...some kids were alternating bites...cupcakes and ice pops.

As each Superhero/Jedi completed their challenge card, they received their prize...party favor bags containing themed coloring kits, Pop Rocks, Lifesaver gummies and mini light sabers (glow stick)

We tried to take a family picture at the end but the kids were done with being asked to "smile!"  Neither would give us a smile but I think that's a sign of a great party...major sugar crash at the end!  Cameron was out as soon as we got in the car to head home...

Yeah for birthday parties!!  This party was A LOT of work but totally worth it.  I figure 5 years old is big accomplishment...for parents as well as the children.  Pinterest was my best friend through it all...