Preston's Birthday Party

Another weekend, another birthday party.  Last weekend Nicky was actually invited to two.  One was for a little girl (a "princess party" on Saturday) and the other was Preston's ("cooking party" on Sunday).  I had a hair appointment and had already asked Gina to come hang out with Nicky for a bit, and didn't want to subject her to the birthday party torture, so we skipped Camelot.  We arrived at the Young Chef's Academy about 5-10 minutes before the party started, along with the birthday boy himself.  Once again, I'm amazed that parents can just be that calm and breezy about things such as this.  Maybe I've got too much Martha Stewart in me for this, or I'm just too much of a planner and OCD, but I've been thinking about all  the details of Nicky's upcoming birthday party for weeks!  I've even lost countless hours of sleep over it and have a spreadsheet with 5 tabs detailing the in's and out's of the party.  Oh how I wish I could be more laid-back with these things.  But I digress...

So, we show up, and another boy (Noah) along with the birthday boy (Preston) are there.  We go inside the small waiting/observation area and these 3 little animals go completely bezerk!  I've never seen Nicky so wound up and outgoing.  They ran around, shouted, climbed on all the chairs, opened doors they shouldn't...you name it!  It was complete pandemonium!  What surprised me even more was that the other parents weren't trying to dissuade their kids whatsoever.  The poor lady that runs the place was trying to control the wild banshees, bless her heart, but they wouldn't listen.  I finally snatched up my little monster and made him stand by me...which, you can imagine, didn't go over so well with Nicky.  By this time, more kids had arrived and the lady was lining all the kids up to go into the "kitchen", all donning aprons, so he got over it pretty quickly since the spot I had him perched on was right at the door by the front of the line.  As you can see below, Nicky's silliness followed him into the kitchen... 

At this point, we were told that the parents could not come into the kitchen to help; we had to stay out in the observation/waiting area.  We could, however, come in once they had made their snacks (pizza and cupcakes) for pictures, etc.  One little boy was pretty shy, and didn't want to stay in the room without his mom, and since they wouldn't let her stay, they ended up leaving the party.  I felt so badly for her.  Kind of a stupid rule - there's plenty of room in there for the parents to stand behind the kids - what's one extra person?!  I guess they were worried that if one parent came in, then the other kids would want their parents in the room too.  The parents (mostly all moms) stood around half watching the kids make their treats, half gabbing about their respective kids and what kooky things they do.  Quite entertaining!

We also learned that Preston's mom is from the Ukraine.  I overheard her speaking to a few other moms in Russian and the we started up a conversation about Russia, the adoption process, and whether or not we will take Nicky there someday...which of course, we plan to at some point.  There was even mention about a possible playdate!  Here's Nicky sitting next to the birthday boy...a little dark, but you get the picture... 

After gobbling up the pizza and cupcake, it was time to head out.  We said our thank-you's and and good-bye's.  Nicky seemed to really enjoy the party - he loves to help in the kitchen, so I see us having a party there in the future.  This weekend there are 3 more parties, with the same motley crew.  We'll be attending only one (I think one is a girls only party), thankfully.  As hectic as the parties can be, at least they get us out of the house and help Nicky's social skills!  And, Momma gets some much-needed time with other Moms to boot!

Kaylee's Birthday Party

Last Saturday afternoon was spent at the Pump It Up bounce house extravaganza for Kaylee's birthday party (she's the one in pink in the pic above).  She's in Nicky's public preschool class.  The venue was great.  Two large rooms with huge bounce thingies, and a separate space with tables set up for the cake and snacks.  Maybe I'm just a little too anal, but it was a tad bit unorganized for my taste.  There were two high school kids that "watched over" the kids - and by that I mean that they were in the same room and they chatted and played ball and goofed off on their own the whole time.  At least the parents were allowed to join the kids in the houses.  I've been to one where they didn't allow individuals over the age of 16 in them.  Why not have a weight limit instead?  I mean - teenagers shouldn't be allowed to run amok with little preschoolers!  And, Nicky was unable to climb some of the walls without assistance, so my being able to join him would've really alleviated his stress and added to his enjoyment.  But I digress...back to the party. 

Here's Nicky flopping around on the floor...and we wonder why he come's home with soo many bruises?!

For what they charge at these places, I would've thought that the employees would have led the party a bit more.  They did have the kids watch a video with the "rules" of the joint prior to entering the first room. 

Seriously?!  As if 4 year olds are capable watching and understanding the rules, and oh yeah, abiding by them! 

They did move us from one room to the other after a half hour or so in the first room.  But, once they lined the kids up to enter the cake room, we were pretty much on our own.  The kid did cut the cake and help pass it out, but didn't guide us through the process.  Those people at Gymboree really have it down pat.  The entire party is choreographed and timed perfectly.  They told us when it was time for cake, they started the birthday song, cut and handed out the cake, and had a goodie bag, plate, and juice set up at every place setting.  Nicky and his friends knew exactly what to do.  Bounce house version - random blobs of bags of chips, cookies and snacks haphazardly thrown down the middle of the table.  The parents had to then open the juice and hand them out.  It was way too chaotic for me.

The other annoying part was that the parents themselves were way unprepared.  They showed up late (party invite said it started at 12:45 - they showed up 3 minutes before 1pm), and it was obvious that they had just hit up the Wal-mart across the street to purchase the snacks.  I realize I'm not normal, and I like to do things way in advance and have things just so, but wouldn't most people have at least bought the stuff for the party a few days prior and been on time to their own kid's party? 

Of course, the most annoying part was that the party took place during nap time.  I don't care if other people don't enforce nap time, but in our house, naps are alive and well!  Not only do Momma and Daddy need that time in order to get things done (nap, laundry, nap, cleaning...), but Nicky is a real bear if he misses it.  Our only saving grace was that last night was "Parent's Night Out" at his preschool, so if he was hyper and out of control, at least it was in that environment!

All that said...Nicky had a GREAT time!  He ran, jumped, flopped, crawled, hopped, slid, and acted like a wild man.  Daddy even got into the action a bit - although quickly learned he was a little old for some of the craziness, as evidenced by his sore back later in the day!  Here are some pictures of the hot mess...

Nicky and his good buddy Sophie...they're pretty much inseparable...

 And Daddy wonders why his back hurt later in the day...

Overall, I think the pros outweighed the cons as far as the outcome of the party goes.  I could definitely see us having one of Nicky's birthday parties there one year - I'll just be sure to take over the organizing part from the poor, blissfully unaware teenagers that run the joint!

Jade's 2nd Birthday Party

A few weekends ago Nicky was a hot commodity - in the little girl's birthday party arena that is.  We had back-to-back parties - Sophie's on Saturday; Jade's on Sunday.  Little background info:  Jade is the granddaughter of our good friend, and neighbor, Sue.  Her daughter, Lauren, her husband and Jade (and now new addition Tyler who's soo cute!) moved in with Sue last year after he lost his job.  Sue's son also lives at home, so I'm sure there's never a dull moment in their house!  Here's a pic of the birthday girl and her Momma...

And one of Momma snuggling with the sweet baby (3 weeks old at the time of this pic) Tyler (and, no, it does not make me want one...don't even think about asking!)...

Anywho...Jade's birthday was the exact opposite of Sophie's shindig.  Where Sophie's had music and jumping and climbing and running and general amounts of ballyhoo.  Jade's was quiet, laid-back, mostly adults with a smattering of little ones - like this cutie here - don't know her name - she was one of Lauren's friend's little girls (got that?)...

Sophie's had water, and cake, and snacks, and the dreaded clowns.  Jade's had wine (don't worry...we only let the kids have 1 glass each...KIDDING!), and pizza, and salad, and cheese and crackers.  If I had to sum it up in a word - Jade's was quite sophisticated!  I suppose when you're two, that's the kind of party parents can have.  I wish all Nicky's parties could be like that.  But, alas, he's already told us he wants several of his friends to attend the big #4 (yikes!), and he wants either animals or boats involved. 

Here's Nicky sporting the pizza we somehow failed to wipe off his face after dinner...

Don't get me wrong, both parties were a lot of fun, but I guess if you had to ask either Nicky or me which one was the best, you'd probably get 2 different answers. 
  

At least there was cake...Nicky's favorite thing to eat right now...he even had cupcakes for snack the next day at school! 

Sophie's Birthday Party

Today we helped celebrate Sophie's 4th birthday.  She's in Nicky's preschool class, and from what his teacher says, they're quite the pair!  The party was at Gymboree, and parents are strongly encouraged to participate in the activities.  I guess some of them didn't get the memo, because instead of joining in, they stood around the room barely paying attention.  There were a few that were so engrossed in conversation that they didn't even hear when their child was calling for them.  I on the other hand, thought it was great fun and unleashed my inner child!

The kids all jumped...

...climbed...

...danced and played instruments...

...put on a "parade"...

...chased bubbles...

...and pretty much ran around like little crazy people for just over an hour!  Perfect for getting the sillies out on a cold winter day.

Here are a few fun pictures of Nicky and his friends...

All was fun and games until this guy made an appearance...

And then when I looked around, he was everywhere and on everything - apparently he's the mascot, "Gymbo". 

Seriously!  Whoever originally thought that clowns make for fun was just plain twisted!  There is nothing amusing about clowns - have you seen Poltergeist or Killer Clowns From Outer Space?  Now that I think about it, I don't think I even cared much for them before either of those movies, and don't even get me started on the Circus!  Needless to say, there will be no apearances made by those creepy buffoons at Nicky's birthday party!

After playing, we all settled in for some yummy refreshments.  Here's the birthday girl getting ready to blow out her candles (which she ended up being too shy to do on her own so we all chipped in).

Nice.  Good thing the employee has plastic gloves on.  We wouldn't want any germs ending up in our food!  Gotta love 4 year olds.

Here's Nicky shoveling his cake in when they were given the 5 minute 'til the party's over warning...

As we were leaving, Nicky had a sad look on his face.  He looked up at me and said "we come here morrow?".  I guess it's safe to say he had a good time!  Up next morrow...neighbor Jade's 2nd birthday party!