Birthday Girl

(For simplicity as I write this, I am referring to Oldest Girl as Jewel since that is the name she uses at home. My apologies if you know her by one of her approximately 12 other names.) 

This little one...

...recently turned 11. To celebrate her birthday, she decided to have a pool party with her besties. My parents have a really nice neighborhood pool near their house here, so we had a perfect location. (My parents primarily live in Ohio, so yes, we were going to throw a party when the parents were out of town. Woohoo!) I emailed the moms of the four invitees, and amazingly there was a date near Jewel's birthday when all four girls were available. We just needed nice weather. This summer has been a mix of extremely hot, humid days and thunderstorms. Neither one is great for swimming, because yes, it can be too hot to swim. We've experienced it. We've also postponed a birthday party due to a hurricane, so there is tropical weather to contend with in late August, too.

Not that it usually has much accuracy around here, but I started checking the forecast ten days out from the party. And I checked it daily. I just couldn't help myself. The weather fluctuated between abysmal (severe thunderstorms all day and a tropical system looming) to very promising. Thankfully, the morning of her party was gorgeous. And it was supposed to stay that way through the early afternoon before "tropical storm-ish" (yes, that is what the weather forecast said. Really) arrived in the evening. I realized we were going to be able to get in the party as planned.

Jewel's party was scheduled from 11:00 - 3:00, and the full plan was for everyone to meet at my parents' house, head out to lunch as a group, and then go back for swimming, ice cream sundaes, and presents. Jewel and I planned to head over early to decorate, and Jeff and the other kids would join us closer to the start of the party. We had planned to leave at 10:00 and, amazingly, by 9:45 we were ready to go. We had the many, many bags of things we needed loaded into the car and we were even dressed and looking semi-presentable. (The good part about having the party not at our house - less cleaning and yard work. The bad part about having the party not at our house - we actually had to plan ahead and take everything over. I'm more of a "grab things as you think of them" person when it comes to entertaining, so this was a bit of a challenge for me.) I walked outside and all but spun around in the sunshine while I waited for Jewel to join me. At the last second I grabbed a magazine to read since we would probably have extra time before the guests arrived.

We got in the car, buckled up, and then I went to start the car. I discovered it had a dead battery. Really dead. After 4 or 5 attempts to start the car, I grabbed Jeff who confirmed, yup, dead battery. So I assessed the situation. The rest of the family was not yet ready to go. Also, in order to get everyone to lunch, we needed both vehicles since we had 10 people to transport. Hmmm. I decided the best course of action was to do SOMETHING, so Jewel and I took off to decorate as planned.

While driving, options started running through my head. Back at our house, Jeff was doing the same thing. When Jewel and I arrived at my parents' house, we unloaded the car, put away the cold stuff for the sundaes, and started decorating. Jeff and I had a couple of phone discussions throughout this process. He had one plan. I had another. By the time the balloons were blown up and the streamers hung, we had agreed on a new plan. I stuck a note on the front door in case any guests arrived before we returned, and Jewel and I took off again.

We went home and grabbed Jeff and the siblings. The new plan included stopping by Taco Bell to buy them a 12 pack of tacos (and a bag of burritos. The kids have definitely started really EATING). That way they could chill out at the house while I took the other girls to lunch. The Taco Bell stop made me nervous because you never know how quickly you will get food there, but thankfully, we were pretty quick.

Of course by the time we got to the house, a guest was waiting for us. Thankfully everyone is good friends, and it was no big deal. Jewel enjoyed having a friend help her finish setting up the sundae bar for the party and the craft station where they planned to decorate beach balls.

The party itself was great. The only challenge was the girls had so much fun at lunch that we were there FOREVER, and we needed a little more time for the party. (Because four hours wasn't enough!) Thankfully I was able to get in touch with all of the parents, and everyone was allowed to stay a little longer. I was even able to corral everyone for a picture. (Shoving juice boxes in their hands helped. And it's not like we tried for anything silly like actually getting everyone to look at the camera.)

So we made it through another year AND another birthday party. Not bad.

Birthday Boys!

The holiday season at our house has begun! We celebrated the boys' birthdays over the weekend. We celebrated ALL weekend!

The birthday madness officially started Saturday with an early morning trip to Panera and Harris Teeter. The boys are funny. Every year I offer to make them separate cakes, and every year they turn me down. This year I was told "it would be a waste" to have two cakes. They also have historically rejected separate birthday parties every year. Love them! But they disagreed on what to have for a birthday breakfast. Mike wanted donuts and Leon wanted bagels ("because bagels are healthier"). I suggested that perhaps we could have one on Saturday and the other on Sunday, and they both thought this was perfectly acceptable. So off we went!

It was just the boys and me for our early morning shopping, which was nice. The boys were extra happy because I let them wear their pajamas to the store. (We left the house at 6:45. I am a big believer that pajamas are perfectly appropriate street attire on children before 8am. They fully agree.) Other than Natalia being incredibly upset when we got home, it was a good trip. (And Natalia was a green-eyed monster all weekend. She was not okay with the weekend being all about her brothers. Not that she ever wants to share Mama.)

We enjoyed a nice breakfast, and then Jeff headed out with the girls so they could shop for presents for their brothers. While they were gone we decorated the cake and stuffed goody bags for the party. And then it was off to their bowling party!

Their party was great. The boys and four friends had a lane to themselves at the bowling alley. It's funny how grown up they have become. They kept up with their game and did a great job of taking turns (and going at the right time) without anyone having to remind them. Meanwhile our girls, the girl guests, and a younger brother bowled on a second lane. I think they had fun too. And no one on either lane broke a finger or smashed a toe. Amazing!

Sunday was a combination of regular errands and family birthday celebration day. In the morning we stopped at Dunkin' Donuts before heading to buy groceries. There weren't any tables left, so the kids got to sit at the counter. They enjoyed that. (And, again, amazingly no one got hurt!) Sunday evening we headed to Chuck E. Cheese for games and then to a Mellow Mushroom next door to Chuck E. Cheese for pizza. But, of course, Leon had to squeeze in one more prize winning jackpot before dinner.

Overall, I think the boys had a great birthday. And it was a good way to start the holiday season!

Fiesta, Fiesta

We've recently started doing rounds of the birthday party circuit.  I thought we were the only freaks with a three-year-old who had never been to a birthday party, but at the first party we attended, another shell-shocked parent confirmed her family was in the same boat.  She and I actually bonded a lot at that party because, well, birthday parties are not the events we remember.

The first party we attended was for a little girl in Ree's preschool class who was turning three, and it was just an odd experience.  It was at Chuck E. Cheese, and it turns out our Chuck E. Cheese has very few activities for the preschool crowd.  Apparently, the days of the giant ball pit are over.  Keeping Ree entertained was a chore, which just seems silly.  The kids spent no time together, all running off in different directions with their families.  And it was a family event.  Although I took Ree by myself, I was the only single parent.  Everyone else arrived with their entire family for the party.  As though Chuck E. Cheese as the theme wasn't enough, the mom had gone overboard with a Little Mermaid theme, and had brought her own table cloths, balloons, and decorations.  The party favors were crazy.  The mom had beach pails professionally personalized and filled them with beach and Little Mermaid gear.  The party started at 2:00, and we were on time figuring the party would be pretty structured.  We actually arrived just before the birthday girl and her family, who had all that setting up to do.  Given that they weren't set up and no other guests arrived until almost 2:30, I thought we had the wrong time, and I apologized profusely to the little girl's grandparents.  Nope, turns out everyone else was just late.  Because Chuck E. Cheese still booted everyone out of the birthday area at 3:30, this resulted in the birthday girl not opening presents.  Ree was sad about this.  But she was even more sad by the fact that we lost one of the lollipops from her beach pail.  Yes, that was her take away from this party.  We lost the lollipop.

But I learned from this party.  For everyone one child you invite, expect four guests.  Don't expect people to show up on time.  And never lose the lollipop!

The next party, also for a little girl in Ree's preschool class, was a little more traditional.  A little more.  It was a pool party at her house, and the parents had set up a slew of kiddie pools and slip-and-slides in their backyard.  The food was kid-friendly trays from Chick-Fil-A and a friend had made the birthday cake and some extra cupcakes.  However, invites still went out to their 60 closest friends via Evite, and given the size of the party, they tactfully requested no gifts.  (Ree was initially disappointed that we did not get to shop for a present.)  When I arrived, I was told where the keg was for the parents, and the kids were all sent outside to go crazy in the water.  I sat with the other parents for awhile, but poor Ree was dying out in the yard.  Ree likes structure and organized activities and knowing what's going on, and running around jumping in and out of pools was not her style.  She wouldn't even try to interact with the other kids.  She and I ended up hanging out on the deck for awhile, and the birthday girl actually ended up joining us.  She was a little overwhelmed too.  The girls ate dinner with me, and I did the best I could to distract them from the parents' neighbors who were doing shots of Jack in the kitchen.  After dinner and the shots, it was time for birthday cake.  Ree dutifully ran up for a slice along with the other kids, but in the mayhem, the lady handing out cake never looked down and saw her.  She kept passing slices over Ree's head to the kids behind her in line.  I intervened, got a dirty look, and Ree and I found a quiet spot on the play room to eat.  Then she and I quietly snuck off.  This party had not been our scene.

I'm not sure what I learned from this party.  It mostly made me sad because Ree had no fun and I never saw her playing with any other kids.  I was starting to really worry about her.

Then, last weekend, we went to a party for a coworker's son who was turning one.  This party at least made sense to me.  It was mostly adults, but the party was for a twelve-month-old whose parents work alternating schedules to keep him out of childcare.  The birthday boy doesn't exactly have a wide social network.  The mom bought party hats and blowers for the kids who were in attendance, and the party was held at a park in a shelter that was next to a playground and a baseball field.  The food was simple - burgers, hotdogs, chips, fruit, and pasta salad.  Dessert was a big, ooey-gooey cake from Costco.  Ree not only got to shop for a birthday present, she got to help open presents.  The mom put Ree and another four-year-old girl in charge of bringing her the gifts and ripping them open.  And Ree and this little girl bonded.  They had SO much fun together.  They ran around on the playground together, then they ate dinner together, then they practiced ballet on the baseball fields together.  We ended up staying an hour and a half longer than planned and only left because Michael was teething and miserable.  (The whole family did go to this party.)  We had a really good time.

The four-year-old girl had a brother who was nine, and he pretty much summed up my thoughts on birthday parties.  He said, "This party is okay, but I like parties with games."  Yeah, me too.