"If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under." - Ronald Reagan

Monday, May 5, 2008

Party in the Sand

Saturday was the Boy's birthday party. We delayed it two weeks because the Man was going out of town and he actually wanted to be there. So I made plans, invited friends and crossed my fingers that we'd have nice weather.

Since I've been at death's door all week, I had a minor freak-out on Friday afternoon when I realized the party was less than 24 hours away and I had done nothing for it. I didn't even have all the stuff to make the cake! So I left the kids with a sitter and dashed out the door, madly searching for party supplies.

Luckily, I had ideas and pretty much knew what I wanted to do. I saw a really cool sand castle cake in Family Fun magazine (everyone who loves this magazine, please raise your hand!) and decided to use that as the theme. I had sand toys for party favors along with a bag of the Boy's favorite candies and a bottle of bubbles. I only invited four of the Boy's friends because I didn't think I could handle more. I am getting to the point where if I don't feel the need to invite every child in my kid's age range to the party, just the ones with whom he has playdates. Also, the Co-ed and the Man would be there to lend a hand, should I need to cough up a lung. Aunt Denise is our family videographer and would record the events for posterity.

When the kids arrived, we tossed bean bags into different sized sand pails. No points or a winner, just lots of hurling of bags and cheering like crazy. I made the bags by quickly sewing together scrap fabric and stuffing them with dried pinto beans. They didn't have to be fancy and they only had to last one afternoon.


The kids had a difficult time with the whole "taking turns" issue but I kept them moving fast enough that pretty soon, it wasn't a problem. The Co-ed was there to show them how it was done.

After that game, it was time for cake and ice cream! To see a better picture of the cake, go here.


Here's the Boy blowing out the candles. And he didn't even spit on the cake this year! My baby is growing up! After cake, came presents. I asked for no toys (we have way too many) so he got lots of puzzles, which are his current addiction, and pjs. The gift from Mom and Dad was a three-wheeled scooter with helmet and pads. He'd wear that helmet to bed, if we'd let him.


After presents, I gave the kids their sand toys and we headed to the backyard. I had borrowed a neighbor's sand box and let the kids have at it.


To keep the party mood going, I set up a bubble machine. Pretty soon, the Boy found another use for his shovel: bubble popper. This machine is called Gazillion Bubbles...and that's what we got! I've never seen such a cloud of bubbles!


Even Aunt Denise got in on the bubble action! We ran out of bubbles after about fifteen minutes but luckily, I have a ready supply of bubble solution on hand, as every mother of preschoolers should.

Parents came and gathered their sand-covered little ones. The Boy went down for a nap (blessedly) and the adults tried their hardest not to crash, too.

I really wanted a nap but had to get ready for Sunday, when we would celebrate Quatro De Mayo with family. See, Sunday wasn't quite Cinco de Mayo but we still wanted an excuse to have lots of Mexican food. We had fajitas with the fixings, fruit salad, grilled pineapple, homemade salsa (my first attempt and actually pretty dang good) and guacamole with chips, Sangria (non-alcoholic version), and flan for dessert. It was fun! Might be a new tradition.

By the way? Happy Cinco de Mayo!

9 comments:

Kristie said...

Sounds like a huge success!! I might have to borrow the idea for Aaron's birthday!! :) The cake turned out great and the boy is SO darn cute I can barely stand it!!!

Jillybean said...

What a fun party!
You're such a good mom, the last three year old birthday party I dared to host was 7 years ago. I swore I would never do that again. You are so brave.

The cake is adorable!

Amanda said...

I also love Family Fun Magazine:) Steve's Mom got me a subscription:) You did AWESOME on the cake:) And you must really love to cook and entertain....b/c after a party I would not want to do a big dinner the next day!

Popcorn House said...

Looks like all the kids (parents) had a great time. Yea, I think Family Fun Magazine is one of the magazines that Suzanne gets. There are lots of cool ideas in there (even for Dad's :-) By the way, I checked out your other site to see a better pic of the cake and it really looks AWESOME!! Glad your feeling better.

Emma said...

The party sounds like a success. It sounds like you used my bean bag toss idea. Great game for little kids, an excuse to throw things! The cake is so cute, it looks just like the Family Fun website picture. I NEED to subscribe to Family Fun. I was gifted Readers Digest this year but Family Fun would have been way cooler! Quatro de Mayo sounds like a blast. We ate at Taco Bell while on the road yesterday to celebrate. I might need to invest in a bubble machine so I won't get light headed blowing bubbles!

Tipi said...

mmmmmmmmmmm.... flan

yup, my only comment


flan....mmmmmmmmm

Heather said...

Great party as usual.

Amelia has not stopped obsessing about the boy and his matching ball.

Kenney Crew said...

Ohh, ohh, ohh, me, me, me...love Family Fun...great idea resource! Love the cake!!!!! Love it, love it, love it!!! What a fun birthday party.

There was a sign at the local shopping center that reminds me of your "Quatro de Mayo". It said, "come celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Saturday, May 3rd". I had issues each time I drove by it.

Caroline said...

You are so dang awesome! I could n't put together a party that cool in a week let alone one day. Can you hear my poor deprived children crying in the background? Heehee :)

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