We finally had the kids' birthday party!! I put a lot of time, love and effort into making this special and fun for my babies and I know they had a blast. Hayes turned 3 and Georgia turned 5 so we wanted to celebrate them in a big way! Back in the spring at the St. Alban's fundraiser, I bid on a Pony Party package and won! I knew it would be a fun party theme for anyone of my kids! Since G and HB's birthdays are only 1 day apart I tend to want to do their parties together, at least until they refuse my plan. 
We planned the party for a Friday evening, hoping it would be cooler and to have the rest of our weekend to relax. After a lot of back and forth I finally decided on a County Fair theme versus a Pony Party/Cowboy theme. I wanted to do something different and loved that there were so many ideas to go along with it. I really had way too many ideas for games/snacks/décor that I had to just stop thinking about it and choose a few. It was a lot of fun putting together and crafting for it!
I wanted to save money where I could because we were inviting a lot of friends and with the kids' ages being so young we knew the parents would stay as well. And it was during dinner time. I chose to send the invites online through Evite. I almost didn't do it just because it felt weird not sending a written invitation, but I am so glad I did. I got them done so quickly (after I settled on a design) and almost every person RSVPed and did it really timely. It was so nice knowing how many gift bags to prepare and how much food to get. I also borrowed a lot of decorations and anything I could such as tables and chairs, the bounce house, table decorations and serving pieces. Once again, I will do that again..so happy to save some money in that area!
So I planned the party around the ponies we were renting. And of course, the last 2 weeks it has been raining everyday, downpours throughout the day. It was literally an hour before we knew if they were coming or not. The pony lady showed up Friday morning to see how ground looked. She said it was fine and our ground was a lot more dense than hers. So I was excited!! Well, not 3 hours later it decided to rain again, then again and then it was a steady rain starting around 4:30. That's when she finally called and cancelled. I was bummed. Not really surprised but disappointed. Daniel did have to point out to me that the kids didn't really seem to care too much. That did make me feel better. But I did have to point out to Daniel that it meant we would have to have another party to have the ponies at now! I'm sure he was thrilled. It did stop raining during the party but it was so hot and muggy outside so we put some games indoors.
We had a full house and people everywhere. Kids and parents were in and out of the house but mainly either on the back porch or around the kitchen area. The house was trashed with goldfish, cotton candy, lemonade and tickets smashed into the carpet and soaked in the grass outside, but it was all worth it. The kids were smiling and so happy to see their friends. It really did turn out wonderfully despite the weather and I actually think it was better that the ponies didn't come. Sam was able to come and he helped make popcorn and hand it out and he babysat Sidney and kept her happy with Cheerios!
Some games I planned for the party were bean bag toss (I made), basketball hoops (I bought at Sam's and it is awesome!), bubble blowing, face painting (I had a teenager come and paint), ping pong ball toss for goldfish, pony rides (stationery pony from my parents), sack races (I forgot to do this but probably too wet), a ticket booth the kids actually loved taking turns handing out tickets to eachother and put them in buckets to play the games. I painted signs that were supposed to go by each game outside but instead I just propped them up next to the makeshift station we made.
Some fair foods we offered were: popcorn, mini caramel & chocolate apples, goldfish, carrots & ranch, chips, hotdogs, sausage on a stick, corndogs, pasta salad, lemonade, water, tea, sangria, and beer. I also made Hayes' requested tie-dye cupcakes, Georgia's strawberry 3-layer cake, a chocolate dump cake, cotton candy and lots of big gumballs!! The kids received a goodie bag with a little thank you poem and some 'prizes' that the kids picked out to take home.
I think this was one of my most favorite birthdays so far. It went smoothly considering our set-up plans were up in the air just an hour before it started. I hope this is something that they remember and look back happily on for years to come. If they don't remember it, then I'll just show them pictures and tell them the stories..and I can enjoy my memories..after all, shouldn't a child's birthday be just as much a celebration for them as the mother who carried them for 9 months and delivered them on that special day!?! I think so!
