Although this first of three snow storms had been predicted for several days, I took it with a grain of salt since that is what you do in Western Washington when the weathermen start predicting snow. I even sent out a text on Friday (before the storm started) telling all of the parents that we would be hosting this party whether there was snow on the ground or not! With both Lia's and Ella's birthdays around the corner, I just needed to get Logan's birthday taken care of and checked off my list so that I didn't start losing my mind. Most people responded back claiming that they were still planning on bringing their child to our house. And then a little after 12 o'clock on Friday, it started snowing and it didn't stop until the middle of the night! It was crazy! Normally, I would be jumping for joy to see this much snow falling on the already 4 inches that had never melted from the previous snow storm five days earlier, but instead, I was just totally annoyed and stressed out that no one would come to Logan's party. After we woke up on Saturday morning to TEN inches on the ground and a winter wonderland, I began to wonder if we were totally insane to go ahead with this party. Everything was closed in our town and everything else had been cancelled (like the kids' basketball games). In fact, the party supply store even called me that morning to tell me that our balloon order was cancelled since the store was closed for the day! Ugh.
Although six kids ended up not coming, everyone else braved the snow and brought their children which I was so grateful for. Ron even offered to be a shuttle service for anyone who wanted him to pick up and drop off their child (since his new Suburban has 4 wheel drive), but only one parent took advantage of this. I ended up inviting a few siblings of friends who were coming to help 'beef up' the numbers which added two more children to the group. So, with Lia, Logan, and Ella included, we ended up having 13 children at Logan's party which felt like a large of enough group to be a real party. Logan didn't seem to notice and appeared to have a great time at his Lego-themed birthday party. He and Ella loved all of the decorations--especially the ones at our kitchen table and the two of them spent most of the morning before the party started playing with the Legos set out on the table and also bringing down extra sets to play with while sitting in their designated chairs. It was quite cute. A little before 3 p.m., my wonderful friend, Wendy, arrived to watch baby Emmett upstairs for us in our bedroom since my mom had to cancel on us due to the snow and getting the flu a few days earlier. Wendy literally saved us as we would never have been able to throw this party without her help. At 3 p.m., the friends started arriving and for the next two hours, Ron and I hosted a very energetic and loud group of children and led them in coloring, six different Lego-centered games, gift opening, and cake and ice cream. For the first time ever, we actually finished the party early and so Ron quickly scrambled and found a Lego movie on Netflix for them to watch until their parents came to pick them up. Overall, the party was a success and I was so grateful to the parents who braved the snowy roads and brought their children to Logan's party.
This is the snowy scene we found on our deck Saturday morning.
A shot of the snow piled on top of the benches and bushes!
Our snow covered play area.
Our front yard and the road in front of our house that you can barely see because it is so covered with snow!
The Lego themed birthday cake I made for Logan with an edible image I ordered off of the internet.
The 'party room' complete with table decorations, Legos, streamers, and balloons (that I happened to pick up at the Dollar Store the day before).
A shot of the decorations on the table. Although it took minimal time to put it together, I thought that it turned out rather cute.
A close-up of the Lego-themed paper products, party hats and blowers, gift favor boxes, and Legos that Logan chose from his room and placed all over the table by himself.
I borrowed the idea of using gift bags from the Lego store from Lia's American Girl Doll birthday party that I threw a few years ago. Since we have been going to the Lego store once a month for over a year now for the free, mini model build, I have gotten to know the store manager, Dave, pretty well. As a result, it was pretty easy to ask for some gift bags without having to buy anything.
Logan standing out on the porch next to the white board sign and other Lego decorations.
A close-up of our birthday boy and the message he wrote on the sign: "Welcome to Logan's Birthday Party. We're SNOW glad you made it!"
As always, we had the kids color Lego-themed coloring pages as the first activity of the party after they arrived.
We then had them try to drop a large, Lego block in a mason jar from three different levels (the floor, a short stool, and a tall stool), but I didn't take any pictures because I was busy running the game. Next, we had them get into two different groups to see who could build the tallest, standing Lego tower in five minutes. Here is one group starting their tower.
Logan's group building their tower together.
We then had the entire group play a rowdy game of 'Twister' on a special, Lego themed vinyl mat I found for sale on Amazon.
The kids looking for their next colored block that Ron had just yelled out.
We then had the kids play 'hot Lego' (instead of 'hot potato') while listening to music.
The circle shrunk and shrunk until there were only two kids left. Here is Poppy handing the Lego block to Logan.
We then had Logan open up his gifts with the person sitting next to him who gave the gift. This is a tradition we have done for years at friend parties. Here is Logan opening up a Lego gift from his good friend, Sophia, who he met in his Kindergarten class last year.
Logan checking out the firetruck Lego set he had just gotten from his friend, Mason, who we know from church.
Logan opening up another gift (a Star Wars Lego set) from his friend, Eli, who he met in his class this year.
After gifts, the kids gathered around the table for cake and ice cream. Here is Logan giving me a smile before we sang to him.
Logan getting ready to blow!
Blowing out all seven of his candles in one breath.
Benton, Ella, Daisy, and Poppy enjoying their cake and ice cream.
Mason, Eli, and Benton--Logan has met all three of these boys at school this year.
Logan eating away while Mason strikes a funny pose for the camera.
Rian (Lia's good friend and older sister to one of the Masons at the party), Lia, and Sophia taking a break from their eating.
Brothers Jace and Liam giving me a serious look.
After all of the friends had left and the party had been cleaned up, I asked Ron to brave the snowy roads one more time to take Logan to pick up Dominoes pizza for dinner. Since I refuse to cook dinner after hosing a friend party because I am always too tired, we normally go out to dinner afterwards. However, I was not feeling up for this adventure with a 4-week old baby and so I instead came up with the idea of letting Logan get Dominoes pizza for dinner. Since we always eat Little Caesars pizza when we buy pizza for dinner, Logan had never had Dominoes until his teacher brought it in to share with his class as a prize for something they had earned. Since that day, Logan has been in love with Dominoes pizza and has been begging for us to buy some ever since. So, I thought this would be the perfect way to wrap up his birthday party day. I turned out to be right as Logan loved every bite of his pizza! Here is a picture of our birthday boy eating his slice of 'special pizza.'
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