Turning five is MADNESS!
But things have gone off without a hitch! Avery's fifth birthday party was a huge success, and, honestly, I am so very glad it's over! 16 kids, 15 adults, tons of presents, treats, food, seats, drinks, toys... It was so fun, and so very, very exhausting.
This year we did a Scientist Theme for Avery, my little Bill Nye lover.
When Avery showed up to the park down the street from our home, where we had the party, the Bounce House had just been set up. She jumped out of the car, ran over to said Bounce House, squealed in delight...
Then completely stopped, turned around, and said, "HEY! Is this a Science House?" very skeptically.
It was not.
Yet.
K had a printer blow up huge posters of Bill and Albert Einstein from pictures we found online (and I bought a poster of Dr. Sheldon Cooper from Walmart) so we could reinforce the corners with tape and safety-pin them through the mesh on the side of the house. Science Bounce House. Voila.
I made tons of treats, snacks and goodies (pictured below), but for the main course we decided to order a huge tray of Chick Fil A chicken nuggets, which turned out to be the best decision ever! Not only were they affordable, they delivered them hot and ready right to the park! The kids (and adults) destroyed the entire tray in a matter of minutes. Bonus: They had just finished breakfast at the restaurant, so they brought us a bag FULL of chicken and biscuit breakfast sandwiches, which were a lifesaver Sunday morning as we got ready for church and sent my parents and Grandma on their way home.
Thank you Chick Fil A!!
Table decorations were canning jars filled with various viscous liquids (Karo syrup, water and oil, etc.) with toy animals and bugs inside of them (think specimen jars). We tied balloons to each jar, covered the tables in bright butcher paper and called it good.
The food was so fun to make for this party! My mom, grandma and I all pitched in to make a beaker-shaped cake with cotton candy smoke coming out of the top! I ordered petri dishes from amazon.com and test tubes from orientaltrading.com and filled the former with jello and gummy worms (think bacterial growth) and the later with colorful candy. I made mini caprese skewers with balsamic glaze, chocolate-kissed raspberries, colorful cake balls, Oreo truffles, spinach ricotta bites, and ham and cheese pretzel bites. I wanted there to be lots of food for my hungry scientists!
I also ordered (gorgeous) cookies from the cutest cookie shop around and made a scientific potion for the kids to drink. All of the water bottles were labeled H2O.
The gift bag consisted of a test tube full of Skittles, a science lab sticker sheet, and a book of experiments for the kids to try at home!
As for the experiments at the party, we made Gak with the kids out of glue, water, food coloring and Borax (each kid took some home in a baggy), and toward the end of the festivities we shot off a few Diet Coke/Mentos fountains. The kids were memorized!!
Happy Birthday my darling girl!! We love you!
