I have no idea how it happened, but Brenden turned into a big 5-year-old boy yesterday. We had all kinds of firsts as far as party time went. Usually we have a party with family and friends at our house and we just let the kids play and make a huge mess with all the toys. But for 5, we decided we’d do it up a little more. Also, for the first time we had kids from school to invite and with only 12 kids in the class, you kinda need to invite them all. So we booked a party at Pump it Up Jr an inflatable bounce house type place. Because times for Saturday parties were terrible, we decided to hold the party Sunday. So Saturday, we had a small party at home for the grandparents and a great aunt and uncle who live in the area.

I told Brenden about the plans for the weekend in the car on the way home from school Friday. He’d asked to go spend the night at my parents house and I wanted him to know what to expect for the rest of the weekend. Mistake! He could not stop talking about how when he came home it was going to be his birthday! I tried to make sure (about 200 times) that he knew Sat. would be a little party and that his friend party was on Sun. Apparently, my parents explained the same thing about 200 more times!

When they arrived on Sat. we had the party set up with Scooby Doo decor which included a bunch of balloons, one of which was a huge Scooby. Brenden immediately saw that balloon and wanted it. Emmy on the other hand, saw the cupcakes and wanted those! I explained to Brenden that the balloons were going to be used again at the next party, but that after that he could have Scooby in his room. 400 times later, instead of asking if he could have Scooby he switched it to, “I know I can have Scooby after the next birthday!” That kid is something else. He enjoyed his family party and when everyone had gone we went to fly his new kite in the park.

Today he could barely contain himself as we waited for the 1:00 p.m. party time to arrive. But it did finally arrive and we all had a great time. The group size turned out perfect and there weren’t so many presents that it felt out of control. We have one happy little man today. And I for one, was very happy to relax and enjoy this year rather than having to worry about planning it all!