Out of all the kids parties I have planned, this was definitely the easiest. All of our other parties have had quite a few details to work out, crafts to make, lots of coordinating, planning, you know...fun stuff! For this "Little Mermaid" party, we rented out the spray play ground, bought a cake, bottled water, bags of chips some plates napkins and a couple of decorations, goody bags complete with sunglasses, jewelry for the girls, chalk, beach ball, candy, whistles, and various Aerial toys. And for the birthday girl, an Ariel swimsuit, personalized shirt, Ariel jewlery and of course a Yarn Therapy bow. Since Lyla is now four, and she has a circle of friends we intended on having a kids party instead of our usual massive blowouts. Well, I don't know if that will ever be possible? We are blessed with alot of friends and family that we adore, so another big bash it was!!
Saturday morning after Lyla and I were both surprised with bikes for our birthday's, we fed the kids, put them down for naps (except Lyla, she would not nap!!) and I headed out to pick up the balloon bouquet from Party City, cake from Publix, and then treat myself to a birthday lunch at Panera, my favorite lunch spot.
Got home just in time to eat, finish packing the car, wake the kids, dress them, load them, and head downtown. We were on time! It went very smooth, thank you God.
We got to the spray park, which is an awesome public pool. They have recently added a spray playground which is perfect for little kids. It is fenced off from the pool and ample room for them to run and play, grassy area to lay out in, and covered areas available. If you are in the Chattanooga area, check it out!
Warner Park Spray and Splash Park
Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the day
After the party, all three kids went to "daddy's" Nana and Papa's house to spend the night and their Aunt Tracie and Uncle Keith were staying in town as well. It was so hard to say bye to them. It felt weird leaving Lyla after her party. Everyone kept telling me to go out and enjoy myself for my birthday. Me enjoying myself is an evening with my kids. But I know how important it is to have adult time as well. Five minutes after they drove off, I was OK and ready to party!!!! Tim and I went home, quick changed and back downtown to meet friends at Big River Grille.
Dinner was great fun! Love my friends and family. We stayed at dinner a little too long (had nothing to do with the shots we kept doing, did it?) and got down to the riverfront for live music just before it ended. We met up with a couple of more friends. Laid out on the blanket, took pictures, and jammed to some Beatles. Lovely.
We made the not-so-best decision to go to the club. I guess I am finally showing my age. My favorite line of the night was "I just want to go home and crochet" and two of the people with me totally understood! Though I was out later than I wanted to be, it was a fun time. Definitely a new generation of kids out there that took over my little circle of friends place at the clubs. They can have it! As Tim said, we would rather sit and hang out at a Chili's all night. Yup, definitely, finally, acting my age.
The next morning it was time to go get the kids and it was Lyla's actual birthday! Turns out the twins both had a fever. I have never missed my kids this much before in my whole life. I cried writing the usual happy birthday to my child facebook post. I couldn't believe I wasn't with my baby on her birthday morning and on top of that the babies are sick. So we got up to Nana's as fast as we could, which meant missing church. When we got there, Lyla was having breakfast, which included ice cream. She later said that was her favorite part of the day.
We spent some time with the family, said our goodbyes to our SC family that were visiting, and headed back to our house. Sean's fever wasn't breaking but Liv seemed to be happy and healthy.
Later that evening, for Lyla's birthday we got some of the family together and went to her favorite dinner spot. Welcome to Moe's! It was very sad, but Tim and Sean stayed home. I missed my boys. But me and the girls and the family had a good time.
After dinner, birthday celebration wasn't complete without Sweet Frogs, our new favorite treat.
I enjoyed this weekend so much. I enjoyed seeing so much family, so many friends and most of all seeing the joy on Lyla's face. She has been waiting for this weekend for many many months now, and to watch her soak it all in, was awesome. And I love sharing a birthday with her!!! I am sure she won't love it as much as I do as she gets older, but that is OK. We all know it will be all about her every year no matter what :)
Now that the twins party is over, Lyla's party is over, time to start contemplating next year. I already have some ideas in mind......
did I mention I LOVE planning kids birthday parties?
We had such a great time at Lyla's party. Sorry we couldn't make it out to celebrate your birthday.
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