My baby boy turned FIVE last month! It really IS hard to believe. He is growing up, that's for sure! He is 44 inches tall and weighs 44 pounds and he is getting so mature in his thinking and in his looks. He is so precious to us and brings so much joy to our lives and it is always fun to celebrate the blessing of him each February! This year he wanted to have a bowling party. I always have a lot of fun planning and decorating for the kids' parties and this was no exception. I found the cutest retro bowling party decorations from an online party store and used the colors as my decorating inspiration. =) Red, Aqua, and a hint of orange...really fun party colors!
The party table...right in the middle of the bowling alley walkway...hey, whatever works, right?
Notice the hand sanitizer in the upper left corner of the table. It made me feel a little better about serving finger foods at a bowling alley...
Turkey wraps, crackers & artichoke dip, a veggie tray, and grapes. It was tasty and SO easy!
Prior to arriving at the party Aden hadn't seen any of the decorations. He was pretty excited!
Here I am helping him read the "Happy Birthday" banner.
I ordered plates, napkins, cups, invitations, and thank you cards from the online party store but there was no banner! Well, you can't have a party without a fun birthday banner (right?!) so I decided to make one myself. It was super easy (thanks to my new pinking shears!) and I had fun doing it.
My quilting supplies made it SO much easier! I used my rotary cutter and my cutting mat to make 14 equal sized rectangles. I cut them with my pinking shears so I could get away without sewing the edges.
Then I sewed them together with a cross-grain ribbon along the top.
Then Carla (my step-mom) traced and cut out the felt letters. They were perfect! Come to find out, she used to be in charge of making all the felt banners for her old church! Not only were her letters beautiful BUT her willingness to do this for me saved me a ton of time and made the fact that I didn't start working on this until 8pm the night before his party much less painful! Thanks again Carla!
The party favors!
Yes, THE red calculators, aqua-colored Mardi Gras necklaces, red stencil-rulers, red post-it notes, and some candy. I wouldn't normally color-coordinate the favors but the red calculators got me going...
Some of us purposed to match the party decorations...others just got lucky!
I have no shame in admitting that I used my 17 month old as a party decoration. She's cute enough and just happened to have red capris and an aqua top. She turned out to be the cutest and most lively decoration of them all! ;)
The kid crew.
The invitees were all family members with the exception of our old neighbors, Isaiah (7) and Darla (3.5) and their mommy Lisa.
He was pretty excited when he found out that the 6 lb., kid-friendly balls were all orange!
I had to include this picture of Elizabeth because of her shoes. She has on Aden's (huge for her) flip-flops, and of course they're on the wrong feet! Classic Elizabeth! Classic toddler!
Darling picture, poor quality. Bummer!
So handsome, so grown up looking!
His first bowl...
It crept along at snail's pace and I think he managed to knock down one pin. He was a little disappointed because he gets strike after strike in Wii bowling and I think he assumed it would be the same at the bowling alley.
They had this contraption for the kids. I had never seen one before but I have to admit, I can't imagine bowling without it with kids Jonathan's age. It made it so much more do-able for him and he had a lot of fun. Basically you set the ball on the top, push it down the metal "slide", and watch it go.
And not one to be left out of the action, Lizzie sat right down, pulled off her shoes and tried to steal the older kids' shoes before they had gotten them on.
As if the balls in and of themselves weren't interesting enough, she was fascinated by the machine that made them magically appear every few minutes.
Giving it a go...
It was fun and all watching Lizzie run all over the bowling platform, step out onto the lanes, stick her hands and arms into the bowling ball return machine, and try to pick up and carry the balls all with bare (ie. unprotected) feet but after about 5 minutes it was obvious that containment was necessary. Seriously, (like I've said 1000 times) what would I do without my Ergo?! The upside is that I actually bowled pretty well with her on my back...I think I got two strikes and a few spares!
Grandpoo going for TEN!
Some of the party goers...Grandma/Mary Jane, Carolyn, My dad, Carla, Auntie Sally, and way in the back, Dave. A fun group!
Lisa getting ready to bowl a strike!
There were no 10 or 12 lb. balls to be had in this place! No joke. So, for us ladies, it was either bright pink 8 pounders with children's-sized finger holes or it was 14 or 16 pounders with ginormous finger holes. Well we went with the 8 pounders but it was pretty ridiculous (the "not being able to fit our fingers in the holes" part) and we blamed our low scores entirely on the balls! I think it is fair to say that the Lihue Bowling Center could use a little renovating! =)
Go Carolyn!
Uncle Ryan flew in from Oahu just in time for the party! It was great to have him there and Aden was so excited to see him!
Of course, Lucas is an old pro at the bowling alley and put most of us to shame.
He is on the Special Olympics Bowling Team for Kauai. Go Luke!
And of course, "Grandpa" was at the top of Aden's bowling party guest list because he is one of Aden's most regular Wii bowling play mates.
My dad and Daniel's grandma enjoyed visiting and getting to know each other a little better.
Poor Daniel...he spent a lot of time trying to get the computerized scoring to work. Did I mention that the bowling alley could use some renovation? ;) And check out Carolyn's lei. Isn't it cool?! I loved it and thought it was particularly fun that it (together with her blue top) matched the party perfectly! =)
And there's sweet Sally girl...love her!
One proud Grandpoo...
(notice the shirt)
Grammy really helped make Aden's party special!
Funny story...when I was researching "bowling parties" online I came across a few websites that recommended having alternate activities prepared in case the kids get bored or tired of bowling. This of course, was assuming you were hosting several children. I chuckled and thought, "Bored? It's only two games of bowling! Come on!" Plus, there were only going to be four kids! Well, we ended up only bowling ONE game because even with only four kids when each ball rolls down the lane about as fast as a turtle moves, and then half of those balls are thrown at the wrong time and hit the bar and bounce back down the gutter, getting stuck half way, and having to call the guy over every two or three turns to retrieve a wayward ball, etc. one games honestly seems like an eternity. And as it was at one point during the ONE game I found all four kids in the back of the alley hovered around this computer game meanwhile their lane was left abandoned mid-turn. Lesson learned: Listen to (or at least don't balk at) all those party planning mommies online who have "been there done that" because experience is, well, experience...seriously.
Notice she pulled the rubber band/clip out of her hair, as always!
That's one excited little birthday boy!
Making his wish...
Getting ready to blow out his candles
He got all five in one breath. He was quite pleased!
What a sweetie! He just sat quietly and politely ate his cake and ice cream.
Grandpoo's always up for some cake and ice cream...just like his daughter. =)
Getting ready to watch Aden open his presents
Seeing the cake and ice cream on his face makes me smile because it reminds me that he is still a little boy...one who still forgets now and then to wipe his mouth after eating.
Surveying the gift table
This gift was a new box of crayons and a set of 20 Giant Handy Manny coloring pages from Isaiah and Darla. Aden has LOVED this and together with Jonathan has already colored 19 of the 20 pages. I'll be on the lookout for more of these Crayola Giant Coloring Pages because they sure were a hit with the boys!
This was the game "Guess Who" from Grandpoo and Grammy
A new basketball from Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Lucas.
A new soccer ball from Grandpoo and Grammy.
Aden got lots of cool singing cards...some with cash, some with gift cards. It was pretty cute...one of the cards had fifteen $1 bills in it. We counted it together, $15, and he got really excited. The very next card had two bills in it...a $20 bill and a $5 bill. $25! But because it was only two bills he wasn't nearly as excited as he was when there were fifteen bills! The grasp on money concepts is definitely limited at this age. In his mind, more bills = more money...no matter what. =)
Legos from Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Lucas
Aden had a great time at his birthday party! I am so thankful that we were able to celebrate with so much family around.
When we got home we busted out "Guess Who?" and played in teams.
Aden and Daddy won!
