Birthday Bash

Saturday was very busy getting ready for Emilio's birthday bash in the park. We have this great park 4 houses down from us equipped with a play structure, picnic tables, covered area, basketball court, and even BBQ's, plus a big green space to run around in. I thought having a b-day party there would be great because the clean up would be so easy compared to the house. It turned out to be a perfect day for an outdoor party too, low 70's, cloud cover, but no rain. My parents, and Mike and Emily helped us get everything ready. Mike and Em were great on streamer duty, and my Dad and John figured out how they were going to hoist the pinata up on the basketball hoop. All the neighborhood kids came out for the fiesta; Holden, Megan, Aizlinn, Wesley, Jacob and Jackson, and of course Marco and Gabriela. Emilio sucked down two juice boxes within the first 15 minutes of the party (my poor kids are denied juice except for special occasions). One thing Emilio really wanted for his party were some party hats. I ended up finding some foam crowns at Michael's craft store in Issaquah (had done at Trader Joe's run last week and that is the closest one unfortunatley) and the guy at the store only charged me a 1 cent a piece for the crowns by mistake instead of $1.00. I asked him if he got that right and he said it was his fault. Anyway, score. WE also got some little foam letters and other designs for kids to put on their crowns. I ended up putting each child's name on the crowns before the party and then they decorated them. It was a hit! They had so much fun making their crowns and looked so cute in them too. I have a fun picture of all of them, but don't want to post that without parent permission. Emilio didn't like the attention during the "Happy Birthday" song and screamed at us to stop singing, that was really nice. He likes attention, but only when it is his idea I guess. Emilio also was really funny when he opened a present that turned out to be something he already has at home. He announced, "I already got that," to everyone. Not the most polite kid on the block. Other than that, people enjoyed the mud and bugs cake I had made, and all the other snacks. The kids loved the pinata time and had fun collecting all the candy too. It was a very nice party, and clean up was sooooooo easy. Party in the park from now on I say.