Birthday Party

We kept B's party simple. A four year old doesn't need organized games and strict routine. My cousins and their kids, who said last minute they would come, ended up not showing. Not a bad thing. There were still eight young kids including B.

 

My mom bought helium balloons and let all the kids have one. B quickly chose a purple one. There was lots of running around with balloons.

 

Once the kids started gathering, we got out Play-Doh. After I made B a bunny, everyone else wanted one too. :-) While they played, I called and ordered eight $5 medium one topping pizzas from Pizza Hut. They gave me an estimate of 20 minutes for pickup (hah! should never have believed that). My husband took one of my sisters and went to pick up our order.

 

Side story here. I ordered our pizza about 10:45 AM. Pizza Hut was barely open, so I believed their estimate. J (hubby) went in and they were so disorganized! The ONE person who knew how to use the cash register had run to the bank. Since J paid with cash, they finally figured out how to open it at least and give him his two cents change, but if we were paying with check or credit card who knows how long the other employee would be gone. They did give J a free 2-liter soda for the long wait. Then later we found out that they had given us an extra cheese and one less sausage pizza. Oh well. Wasn't going to call and complain (even though she did repeat my order to me on the phone). Anyway, back to the party...

 

Once the pizza arrived, we cleaned up and ate. Drinks were simple - we brought lemonade only, so no worrying if everyone will have enough of the drink they want. Most everyone likes lemonade, and if they don't they could have water. Simple. It also made it nice not cluttering the table with four different drinks. Just one open bottle at a time.

 

After pizza I herded the kids downstairs to watch "Panda Go Panda! Rainy Day Circus" (went with our circus train theme). B didn't sit down and watch, but he's seen it a million times. Most of the other kids were glued to the TV though. The show was 35 minutes.

 

After the show we moved back upstairs, had B open his presents (more clothes than toys, yay!). My mom had found a train conductor's hat which B put on immediately. He even said thank you for his presents. :-)

 

We ended with cake (spice cake, with circus animals and a mechanical train that actually moves around the track) and handing out favors (boxes of animal crackers). B was so worn out by the time we left (just after 2pm). We thought he'd fall asleep on the drive home, but he resisted. He needed a nap though, so as soon as we got home he was put in bed. About fifteen minutes later, he slept. We were worn out too, so we all took a long nap.

 

After nap, we gave B our present - an "I Spy" puzzle game for preschoolers. He certainly enjoyed his birthday.