Henry's 7th Birthday

We finally bit the bullet and hosted a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's.  Henry and several friends from school, summer camp and the neighborhood gathered on Saturday morning to celebrate turning seven.  Highlights included finding the 1,000 free tickets voucher in the ticket blaster, playing air guitar and enjoying some special Captain America cake.  Happy birthday, Henry!

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vivian's 4th Birthday

We held Vivian's fourth birthday party after the Thanksgiving holiday at JW Tumbles, an indoor play gym.  This turned out to be a good choice because the weather was nasty that day (freezing rain and wet snow).  Despite the mess outside, the kids had a blast climbing, jumping and running in circles.  In between free play, the instructors kept things interesting with freeze dancing, an obstacle course (check out the video below), and a zip line. Afterward, we all wished Vivian happy birthday with cake and treats.  We were relieved when Vivi requested an Alice in Wonderland party—it was nice to take a break (if only temporary) from princesses.  However, organizing Alice-themed decorations and refreshments took some effort.  We ordered playing card plates and napkins for the table.  For the cake, we re-purposed a princess sheet cake from Giant with Alice figurines from the Disney Store.  We also served edible tea cups (from an idea we found online), white cheddar bunny crackers and grapes on flamingo toothpicks.  We're not sure folks got all the references, but the kids enjoyed the food.  Bryant also made Vivian a special Cheshire Cat cake to enjoy at home.  It turned out surprisingly well and, most importantly, Vivian loved eating it!  Below are pictures from the party.  As you can see, Vivi was proudly sporting her new Alice in Wonderland dress for the occasion. 

 

 

 

 

 

November Happenings

Mimi Joanne visited in early November to attend “Special Persons” (a.k.a. Grandparents) Day at Vivi’s school.  Mimi got to see some of Vivi’s artwork and also heard a special concert performed by the 4A class.  While she was in town, Mimi also took Vivian to the American Girl store in Tyson’s Corner to select an early birthday present.  Having studied the AG catalogue at home, Vivian had no trouble picking out the red party dress she wanted for herself and her doll.  Mimi’s visit also coincided with Bryant’s 42nd birthday, which we celebrated with a family dinner at Clyde’s.  Also in November, we finally got around to ordering Henry a twin bed.  It was long overdue; for months he has been hanging off the side of his toddler bed.  No sooner had we set up Henry’s new bedroom furniture than Vivian started asking for a “big girl” bed.   Before the weather got too cold, we also managed to squeeze in some outdoor ice skating at Pentagon Row.  Henry was able to skate on his own, and Vivian did pretty well with the help of some special double blade “training” skates (see below).  Finally, at the end of the month, we celebrated Vivi’s fourth birthday.  We decided to hold her party after the Thanksgiving break (more about that to follow), but marked the special day with breakfast at Krispy Kreme.  

  

  

 

Henry's 6th Birthday

With so many folks away in August, we decided to host Henry’s birthday party a few weeks early, in late July.  Having opted for the super easy moon bounce party last year (see Henry’s 5th Birthday), we wanted to do something at the house this time.  We took a chance on the weather and planned a backyard water play party.  We looked into renting an inflatable waterslide, but for the same price, discovered we could buy a slightly smaller version from Amazon.  Between the slide, a few inflatable pools, some water guns and a tub of water balloons, we figured the kids would be sufficiently entertained.  We weren’t wrong.  The boys spent most of the afternoon hurling water balloons at each other while the girls were surprisingly enthusiastic about the slide. 

Consistent with the planned activities, Henry chose a shark theme for his party.  For decorations, we downloaded a “shark sighting” sign from the Internet and posted copies around the backyard.  Bryant also drew some life-sized sharks on the patio with sidewalk chalk.  Henry was keen on having a shark cake—not a sheet cake with sharks on top, mind you, but an actual shark-shaped cake (Bryant made the mistake of showing him some photos from the Internet).  Fortunately, we found instructions online and were able to create a halfway decent version.  We also discovered some nifty ideas for carving a watermelon shark and making shark Jell-O cups (in lieu of ice cream).  You can read more about our party preparations here.

 

 

 

We got lucky with the weather.  It was overcast and not too hot for most of the party.  Right at 5pm, as the party was winding down, an afternoon thunderstorm rolled in, conveniently emptying our backyard of guests.  Henry had fun getting wet with his friends.  With the start of Kindergarten just around the corner, the party doubled as a farewell celebration for the children in 4B.   Between Henry’s classmates, their sibling and parents, and our neighbors, we had quite a crowd (about 30 children in total).  Despite all the work (we were exhausted afterward), it was nice to entertain in our backyard.  Having said that, we’ve already decided that next year will be another “venue party.”

Below are pictures from Henry’s shark-infested celebration: