The past five years have gone by just the same...fast and furious, that is. Wait! That doesn't sound very nice. Consider the years as fast and fabulous. (Now, that sounds better. I wouldn't want anyone to think I have ever been furious during the past five years--although I've had my moments, to be sure!) However, with a flash of his brilliant smile paired with an irresistible charm, Spencer can diffuse the deepest anger or lighten any heavy mood. He's simply a great kid!
The Friend Party
I have decided that five is the age to begin having friend parties, and only every other year. That made this an especially exciting birthday for Spencer. We worked together to pick a theme, make an invite list, and plan games and activities. He wanted an "encore" of his third birthday volcano cake, so we chose the dinosaur theme. That was great because I had the know-how for the cake, the dinosaurs for the decorations, and even some left-over dinosaur plates. Nice and simple.
I used the image from the movie Jurassic Park, and altered it to read Spencer Park for the invitations. It was a nice touch, enhanced by a free font I found online that matched the original text.
The boys made masks, created fossils in plaster of paris (sort of), listened to Jason read the book Dinosaurumpus, had a dinosaur dig in the sandbox, ran a water obstacle course with hard-boiled eggs, and searched for giant dinosaur eggs from which they retrieved their goody bags. And because two of the five invited guests could not come, it was a calm, intimate group, and it was perfect!
Out to Eat
The birthday boy gets to choose where the family will go out to eat for dinner. We prompted Spencer to choose something a little more sophisticated than McDonald's (it is a special occasion, after all) and he settled on Chuck E Cheese's. I didn't care. I didn't have to cook or do dishes. Plus, the boys always get a thrill from burning through twenty-five tokens in five minutes or less. We followed the pizza with a vanilla and chocolate twist ice-cream cone from Macey's.
A Sabbath Birthday
Spencer's actual birthday landed on Sunday this year. That worked out great, because we stretched out the celebrating and it was really manageable. The festivities actually started Friday night with a "Father and Sons" camp out in the backyard. I was not too disappointed that I wasn't invited to sleep in the tent with Brevin, Spencer, and Jason, but I don't think it will improve my status as the lesser favored parent. I did make his breakfast of choice, though: blue pancakes with blue syrup. Whatever.
Cupcakes and frosting had been made in advance for the family party, but Jason and I spent a greater part of our morning cutting mini marshmallows and shaping them into popcorn. It was an idea I got from this darling book.
Steve and Judy were gracious enough to host the family party in their home where we enjoyed gifts, cupcakes, ice-cream, and viewing Spencer's year in review video.
This turned out to be such a fantastic weekend for Spencer. I'm just afraid his birthdays will all be "downhill" from here.
This post authored by Amber
Holy cow! What fun! That cake is so awesome. Does the volcano have dry ice inside? I may have to steal that idea for some future birthday party. Amber, I love how you're so creative and detail-oriented. And also easygoing where it counts-- blue pancakes with blue syrup?!? :)
ReplyDeleteI finally just caught up with all of your blog posts!! You are amazing :) I hope you know that!
ReplyDeleteGood Grief woman, I just keep getting more impressed. How do you do all this stuff! That is such a cute cake! What lucky little boys....even if Jason is there favorite,(until someone gets an owie or is scared at night then who do they run to?) they'll realize one day what a incredible mother they have!
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