The Birthday Party

This is the first year I've done a real "kids" birthday party for Erin. Since she has been in school she's been invited to several parties and had a blast at each of them. So when April came around Erin was determined to have "all her school friends" at her Birthday Party.



I rented out the shelter at our local park and we invited all her school friends and then some friends from Annie as well as a few family friends. We went all out and planned some games (a Pinata and Pin the Tail on the Donkey), put together goodie bags, had bubbles and cake and fruit. I planned the time for being right after soccer. That worked and it didn't. We held it in the same park as the soccer fields, but it rained for 2 days before and everything on the fields was really muddy. So Tom had to take Erin and Jeff home to get her cleaned up and changed and fed between the end of soccer and the party. They gave him a bit of a hard time and Erin was slightly late to her own Birthday Party.



The first thing all the kiddos wanted to do was play on the playground. This was a great way for some of the kids and parents to get to know each other. They all had a blast on the playground -- climbing, swinging, sliding. They played there for almost an hour and then Tom got the games set up. Erin has been super excited about her Pinata (or Fiesta as she calls it). We got one shaped like a soccer ball and she helped fill it with candy. This was some powerful pinata. It took each kiddo two rounds of whacking to get it open - some of them throwing some powerful blows. Even Jeffrey got his turn to hit it -something he rarely gets encouraged to do.



After that we played a rousing game of pin the tail on the donkey followed by cake. Erin picked out a chocolate cake with red roses from the grocery store. I asked the lady at the bakery to write "Happy Birthday Erin" on it and when she gave it to me it looked like a 5th grader had done it. So I vamped and added some of Erin's Little Pets to the mix and ended up with a darned cute cake. And the best thing of all...the whole thing got eaten and none had to come back home!!!!!



We finished the party by opening presents and thanking every one with big hugs. Then daddy put on a juggling show much to the delight of the party goers. We all know daddy can certainly be a ham and the kids thought he was just the funniest thing. We've certainly got a special daddy hanging around here.



After that, the party broke out. Erin handed out her party bottles filled with a bouncy ball, some bubbles, a popping toy, candy, stickers and a pencil. She was so very very proud of them, and all the kids thought they were super cool.



So here's the picture overload. I can't believe my baby girl is almost 5. She looked like such a big girl today running and playing with all her friends. I'm getting just a little teary thinking how proud of her I am at becoming such a beautiful young girl.

After Putting Together all Her Goodie Bottles

Playing With Her Friend Abbey At the Playground

Climbing the Wrong Way Up the Big Slide - Only Gets Away With That When Mommy's Taking Pictures

Telling Daddy How Old She Is and How Many Swings At the Pinata She Should Get

Swinging Away

Birthday Girl With Her Doctored Cake

Digging Into Those Presents With A Little Help From Her Friends