Friend party

We had a final celebration with school friends on Friday (3/1) after Henry's bday. Having a bday in February is tricky, because the weather is so unpredictable. Several years it snowed on his bday, and several others it was sunny and mild. My preference is always having an outdoor party at home, but that has only happened on 2 of his 7 bdays! We have to think creatively since our house isn't really big enough to have a bunch of people inside . When Henry started kindergarten, we started the "drop your kid off" kind of party, and that helped with the crowd. Anywhoo, this year we did a big party at Stars and Strikes. We don't usually spend this much $, but we had a big gift card that Steven had won at his company Christmas party, so we used that to help with the cost. The best thing about having it there was that they have a party host who is specifically for you...she was great help! Below are some pics of the celebration!

Our host was a balloon artist extraordinaire, and she kept the kids entertained making them whatever they wanted. When Henry arrived, she had this hat ready for him, plus a flashing Happy Birthday button!

He picked 3 colors for his baloons-red, orange, purple.

He requested Wild Kratts for a "theme"...which consisted of a WK cake topper and WK themed goodie bags for the party guests.

Lincoln and Harvey arrived first. I snapped a shot with Henry's bday message above before it got changed.

Let the bowling begin!

Henry with some more buddies-Sarah Elizabeth, Abby, and William.

Goodie bags with zebra striped cakes, fruit stripes gum, some plastic animals, an animal fact card and gel pen...and a wild Kratts tag!

My girls were happy to have Nora Kate come!

The boys were pretty competitive! Other friends here are Hudson, Dawson, and Jackson. That's a lot of "sons"!! haha

And Carter is in this one!

The girls stayed on the "girl side"...funny how they naturally divided! We ate pizza and had lemonade/fruit punch. Zoe and Patty are in this shot.

Balloon flowers!

Here is the whole gang! Sixteen total if you count the littles (Ruby and Clayton). Fourteen bowled.

And the silly shot!

Henry with friends surrounding him being sung to. He was happy if you can't tell! I just frosted a funfetti cake with green and added lighter green grass and propped up some wild animals on top. It worked and was super easy and stress-free to transport.

Henry got wonderful gifts from his friends. Very special!

Afterward everyone went to the arcade area and Henry got some time in the ticket booth. He got to grab the flying tickets that were being blown around, and at the end he could trade them in (for a set amount) or keep what he grabbed. He traded which was a great choice. All the friends got an arcade card to play a few games before parents picked them up. This part made me SOOO nervous, because parents weren't there (for the most part) and they were running free using their cards. I decided to plant myself by the door so no one could escape wo my knowledge. The teacher in me was cringing, and I was literally sweating. I have them their gift bags as the left so I could mentally check them out! Ha

Grabbing tickets in the wind! He had to push them into a ticket slot once he grabbed them.

One last shot in the prize (aka junk and trinkets) area....Jackson and Henry have become big buddies at school this year, and I'm so thankful! Here they are posing for a final picture! 

 Happy 7th birthday, Henry! We loved celebrating with you. You are blessed to be surrounded by people who love and support you!