Sunday, August 5, 2012

Dig It! A birthday party for Elijah!

Turning five meant that Elijah, for the first time, got to have a birthday party with FRIENDS!  Previous years he was too young to appreciate it, so this year was a big deal.  He decided on a construction themed party for two reasons... 1) he's crazy about big diggers, 2) construction equipment is YELLOW, and as you may know yellow is his favorite color in the world.
So we invited friends from church to swim, eat cake, and celebrate with us.
15 kids in all (my 2 included), along with parents and my family.
First they swam. There was such an enormous level of squealing; the likes of which I think I have never heard. Squealing, giggling, running, splashing, and plenty of tricks where shouts of "Mom, watch this!" were made. I'm so glad the other moms came too, because there's no way I could have kept up with 15 tiny bodies jumping in and out of the water!  One little girl who couldn't swim removed her floaty and just walked off the side into the deep end. Thankfully her mom was an arm's length away and snatched her up quick. What a fright!
Next came cake and a Happy Birthday Song to my birthday boy.
He was so sweet, and proud.  He beamed while they sang to him.
This was the culmination of all our birthday party planning.
It was the very moment he dreamed about for months as he counted down the days to the event...all his friends circled around him, singing just to him.
I made a Construction Zone cake, which I think turned out super cute.
It was a 2 tiered chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I took a chunk out of the top layer to look like it had been dug out. Then covered the whole thing with crushed chocolate graham crackers to look like dirt. We used coconut-covered chocolate marshmallows to look like boulders, and placed some mini Tonka equipment around to look like a work zone.  I even put some "dirt" in the back of the dump truck and the bucket of the excavator for good measure.
The kids LOVED it. They actually played with the cake, which was fine by me.
My mom made some amazing chocolate cupcakes too. Her little bakery, All Mixed Up is really taking off!  It's probably because they are the best cupcakes EVER. Just ask anyone. Yummmmy. :) 
And since everyone was covered in chocolate and melted ice cream drippings, they all took a bucket bath in soapy water and played in the hose to get washed off.  It turned out to be the most fun of the afternoon!  Who would have thought?
There was a lot more swimming, and gifts opened by Elijah (thanks everyone!), and snacking, and more squealing.  And finally, a group shot of all the party guests (minus Zeke, who had to take a nap) before they had to go home. 
I'm telling you what, turning 5 is pretty awesome. Especially when you get to spend it with loads of good friends.  I think the day lived up to all my birthday boy's expectations, and then some!
Whew, this Mommy is exhausted. :)

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