Birthday Recap

I know, I know.  It's been so long that recapping a birthday party that occurred almost two months ago seems silly, but this is the kids' only semblance of a baby book, so bear with me.  Lou wanted a Batman party for his fourth birthday.  Right around the time of his birthday he became obsessed with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the DAY BEFORE his birthday begged me for a turtle party.

Um, no.  

He still loves Batman of course and so it was a great day.  Despite the fact that it was 28 degrees (for real) and I had planned several outdoor activities, everyone rallied and made the best of it.  Even this girl who did the shopping with me a few days before the party and basically passed out in the cart. A nice case of strep throat followed the day after the party with a wicked case of mono the next week that knocked her out for five solid days.  My poor perfect attendance girl no more.

Lou's actual birthday was on a Saturday, the same day of the party.  He got a big boy bike which he didn't get to ride outside for about a week (the arctic cold and all).  He also got a puzzle and Bat Jail. I ordered it off of Amazon and it goes nicely with his bat cave. Except for the fact that the Bat Jail has what appears to be an electric chair.  That lights up!  That the "bad guys" sit in!  I didn't think we would need to have the capital punishment conversation for a least a few more years, so for now we are calling it the "shocker."  Thanks for nothing, Bat Jail.

Breakfast was whipped cream with a side of pancakes.

And lunch (his choice) was In-n-Out at home (dad's choice).

Things were kept relatively simple (by my standards at least), and we invited only the friends of his choosing.  One of his buddies has an older sister who is Norah's friend, so she was thrilled as well.

I did old school treat bags with water shooters, ring pops, tattoos, stickers, and superhero straws.

I bought a set of pdf's on Etsy and then printed them and did the cardstock backings.  I think Norah and I are the only ones who care about decorations, but we were very pleased with the end result.

Cake boss came through with a personalized cake for Louis and then cupcakes (including a dozen gluten free) for everyone else.  We re-used the stands I made for Reid's party, which justified the many hours I spent gluing yellow construction paper windows.

This is the birthday boy's tough Joker face.

Batgirl.

All the kids dressed in superhero gear.  I think we had three Batmans, a Captain America, Spiderman, and a Ninja Turtle.

For the first game I printed out colored pictures of various superhero villains.  The plan had been to hang them up around the yard, but again with the freezing rain, we were pretty much limited to the back porch.  I then bought a bunch of cans of silly string.  We armed the kids and let them loose on the villains.  

It was a big hit despite the confines of the cold/rain and the fact that dollar store silly string pretty much sucks.  If I had to do it again I would have splurged on the good stuff.

Next up was Save the Heroes.  The night before I froze plastic Batman and Superman figurines in a block of ice.  I turned them out on the table (would have done it in the grass if not for the rain) and the kids had to shoot them out with water guns.  Again, way more fun in warmer weather, but despite it all they seemed to enjoy it.  A lot.

For the final game, the plan had been to put this Joker/Penguin backdrop against the backyard fence and let the kids throw water balloons at it.  But the cold kind of killed that idea so we used it for a makeshift "pin the nose on the Joker" game.  It was a big hit even when we forgot to find a blindfold and ended up using a white pillowcase in a pinch.  There were no photos taken of children with a white pillowcase over their heads...

The crew...

The cake.

The family came over for dinner and presents.

The next day was sweet Camilla's birthday and so she got in on the birthday action as well.

By that time Norah was a hot mess and way too sick to go to the party, so she got cupcakes sent home to her.

We doled out Lou's presents from friends and family over the next few days and he basked in the glory of being the birthday boy for at least a week.

(He loves this hand-me-down jacker from Norah).

The bike has been a huge hit and he rides it every chance he gets.

It's crazy to me to think that the last time I had a four year old I also had a one year old.  I can't even imagine having a smaller kid while trying to wrangle Lou.  Despite the challenges I think we'll keep him.  For now.