To celebrate his fifth birthday Bentley had a birthday party with his friends last Monday. This is a first for him. In the past he has only had family parties. He invited eight young friends--four of his play buddies (Patrick, Cassidy, David, Daniel), three church friends (Rachel, Siyena, Seth), and his cuz Felicity. The party was an hour and half long which is plenty long enough for preschoolers.
Kara took Bentley on Saturday to Party World and let him pick out some party supplies. He picked the colors orange and purple, but a lot of supplies didn't come in purple so he opted for dark blue in that case. He picked out paper plates, cups, forks, napkins, balloons, goodie bags, a Happy Birthday banner, swirls, a game, and two large rolls of crepe paper.
On Sunday evening with the clock ticking down, Kara and I started to decorate for the big event and discovered that the crepe paper sold at Party World is lousy. It rolls instead of twists! We could not use it. Fortunately, my friends Lisa and John (who live nearby) offered us their supply bag of crepe paper and combined with our stash of leftovers we were able to do a good, but not over-the-top (as was the plan), job of decorating. Bentley was happy, so we did our job.
Monday morning Kara baked Bentley's birthday cake--rainbow colored with no frosting--while I took Jake and Viva over to Party World to pick up the helium balloons for the party. It turns out that it is not easy to fit fourteen helium filled balloons and two toddlers in an extended cab truck while keeping a clear view of the side view mirrors. It was a harrowing drive home.
Monday afternoon the party guests arrived and the fun commenced. They first did a little coloring and decorated party hats with foam cut outs. Then they played Pin the Tail on the Donkey--only half of them agreed to give this game a try. None of them came close to getting the tail on the donkey's hind end. (That was Kara's fault because she didn't line them up in front of the donkey.) They didn't seem to care.
It was back to the table to do another craft. This one involved clay hearts that were decorated with beads and sequins. The children all worked diligently except Jake and one other boy who was happy to be at the party, but not interested in doing any crafts.
The children really enjoyed a bean and bead game. They had 30 seconds to find pony beads hidden in a large bowl of 20 year old red beans. Some guests asked to have a second or even third turn. Jake and Viva spent a good half hour after the party sorting through the beans. Bentley was the game tester the evening before and it was a big hit with him, too.
Cake and ice cream were served. Well, cake for everyone, ice cream for everyone except the birthday boy. Bentley opened his gifts. Finally it was time for the big event--the bull piñata. Out came the blind fold and the bat. Surprisingly--given the earlier donkey game--all the children were willing to put a blind fold on and swing a bat at the piñata. The bull was strong as ever. The blind fold came off and the children each took another turn at bat. The bull was still in good shape with a crack or two on its legs. Bentley was then given five hits on the piñata, then Daniel, then Seth. Five year old males can hit pretty hard, but commercial piñatas are quite sturdy. Bentley finished the job. Kara ripped the cracks wide and the children dived for the goodies. (I heard Bentley tell Grandma Vicki on the phone that he got 39 pieces of candy! Viva had maybe seven.)
The party was over after the piñata. Kara and I had to scramble to hand out goodie bags, crafts, and balloons to each guest as they left. Bentley was happy with party. Mission accomplished.
Kara will be adding some party photos to this post, so check back later to view them.
