We knew that when Ian turned 5 that we would plan a big birthday party and invite friends from school. We decided fairly early in the planning process to NOT have the party at our house. It just would be easier and less stressful to have it outside of the house where someone else needed to worry about cleaning. LOL With as much as he loves bowling, we figured a bowling party would be fun. We picked a package that came with bowling, food, drinks, ice cream and even treat bags for the kids. All we needed to do was bring a cake and the birthday boy!
My creative and over-acheiver urges kicked in so I designed Ian’s birthday party invites in Photoshop.
Front:
Back:
The cake:
In the party room, pre-party:
Recovering from a virus and growing weary of my picture taking:
Doesn’t his apple juice look like beer here? LOL
Party people:
Ian’s friends (L to R): Lily, Aaron, Kyle, Megan, Ian, Jason, Rachel, Raegan
Remember the letter we got from Ian’s teacher? I found out at Ian’s party that Rachel was the classmate kissing on Ian a few months back! Her mom said that she got a note home too! LOL Rachel was also the girl that watched a movie with Ian back in October! Maybe they’re meant to be together!?! 🙂
We intended for Matthew to come to the party and bowl but about 2-3 hours before the party started, Matthew vomited all over the two of us while sitting on the couch watching TV. Since he puked and was running a fever, Mike’s mother graciously stayed home with Matthew during the party. Thank you!!!
Let the games begin!!!
How do I explain bowling with eight 4-5 year olds? Holy moly! I don’t think I saw Ian bowl more than 1 frame. I spent the entire time making sure the kids were bowling (and not fighting, running away, wrestling, crying, etc). Most of the parents stayed for the party but it was pretty chaotic and I definitely needed to keep the kids on task. As it was, they only bowled something like 6 frames in an hour. LOL
The out-of-focus, blurry nature of this picture is pretty much spot on!
Mercifully, the bowling part of the party flew by and it soon was time for food, drinks, cake and presents!
Singing “Happy Birthday” to my big boy:
After everyone finished eating, the kids had fun playing in the party room.
Ian pretended to be an airplane with his friends:
Taking a break to pose with Uncle Nick:
The alley gave Ian the (real) bowling pin that was the table decoration/center piece in the party room. The hostess brought out a marker and all the kids signed the pin for Ian (even Ian LOL).
It was a great (but exhausting) party! I can’t believe my big boy is 5!