Jade's 6th Birthday Party

So, a week after Maxwell's party, we were back at the YMCA for Jade's 6th birthday!  She wanted an adventure party, so I had a little bit more work to get this one right for her, but in the end, she loved it, her friends seemed to have a good time, so I think it was a success.

We again used the local YMCA and decided to follow a similar schedule as last weekend, since it went so well. So, we had the pizza, cheese ball and drinks ready when everyone arrived.  Everyone came in and chatted and ate pizza for a little while.  Then, it was scavenger hunt time.  I did 6 clues and tried to make them easy enough where kindergarteners wouldn't have to ask for too much help.  The first clue I just handed them.    On the bottom of each clue there was a letter or two to be used later.

"If you’re in a hungry mood, go here first and find some food."

The next clue was found next to the pizza boxes.  "Go to the place that doesn’t match."  Underneath the words there was a picture of a tennis court, a garden, a forest path and a desert.  

The next clue was found on the tennis court.  "Solve the puzzle to find the next clue."  Underneath the words were pictures of a basket and a beach ball.  

The next clue was found on the basketball court.  "Cross off all the letters in the word GUM.  The remaining word will be the location of the next clue."  Below that was a grid of letters.  When all instances of G-U-M were removed, it spelled "STAIRS TO POOL".

The next clue was found on the stairs. "Your next clue can be found on the door to a place where you wash your hands. " 

The next clue was found on the door to the bathroom.  "Use the letters from your clues to determine where the treasure is."  When they gathered up all of their clues and set them out in a row, it spelled "UPSTAIRS".  They all ran upstairs to find the treasure!  

For the treasure, I used valentine treat bags and put 2 pieces of candy in each one.

After that it was cupcake time!  Jade wanted strawberry, so I made a strawberry angel cupcake with a white frosting.  I made a few extra with chocolate frosting because I knew that would be delicious.

For the favors for this party, I got little notebooks and I decorated each one with the guest's name and some cute star stickers.  And, each guest received a pen to write in their book with.

After cupcake time was finished, we ventured up to the bounce house.  Jade wasn't having much fun in the bounce house, so our awesome staff at the YMCA set up the gymnastics mats in the racquetball court, so there would be some more fun to be had.  In the end, she had a blast and loved every  minute of her party.

For decorations, I again went simple.  I bought a single balloon (that I let her pick out) and made a banner that said "Happy 6th Birthday Jade" with her picture on each end and hung it on the window.

The awesome banner made by my Mom was hung over the present table.

 I survived another year of world-wind birthday parties and I have two very happy kids, so I'm a happy Mom!

Maxwell's 3rd Birthday Party

Well, I did it!  I made it through Christmas and managed to pull off the kids' birthday parties.  First, Let me talk about Maxwell's.  He was turning 3, so we did a "balls" party.  We had it at the local YMCA (which was amazing).

Of course, 3 days before his party, I was notified of a scheduling conflict at the YMCA, so we had to rearrange our schedule.  But, luckily everything worked out great.  Instead of playing first, we ate first and then played once the other group was finished with that area.

The staff at the YMCA was amazing!  They went out of their way to make sure everything was taken care of and we were happy.  I would definitely recommend them, if you live in the San Antonio area.

So, Maxwell loves chocolate, so I made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting for him.  They also had a peanut butter filling.  I know that not everyone likes so much chocolate, so I made a few with a white frosting.  Then, I decorated them with a soccer ball ring.  They were delicious.  Unfortunately, the kids were scared by the peanut butter filling, so I've learned for kids parties, skip the filling next time.

For favors, I bought water bottles (sport themed, right?).  And I decorated each one with the name of his friend and some ball stickers!  And, the tag said "Thank you for celebrating Maxwell's 3rd birthday!  We had a ball!"  I also made sure that there were plenty for siblings to take a bottle home too, although siblings didn't get their name on theirs.

For decorations, I bought one birthday balloon to put on Maxwell's chair and then I made a banner that said Happy 3rd Birthday Maxwell, and it had a picture of him on each side.  I hung that one on the window.  And, last minute, my Mom decided to make him one of her famously awesome birthday signs.  That one is picture below and was hung over the present table.  Lastly, I made an "about Maxwell" sign and hung that over the cake/favor table.

When the kids arrived, we had pizza, water, juice boxes, and cheese ball with chips and veggies. We also had coloring pages and crayons so his friends could color him a picture.  After food, coloring and cake, we went up and had a blast in the bounce castle.

Everyone had a wonderful time, most importantly, Maxwell did.  He was so excited to celebrate with all of his friends.