A SUPER 4TH BIRTHDAY PARTY!

Well, here it is. The long awaited birthday blog post. I've received a lot of comments asking to see photos. So, here it is! Thanks for your patience. 

I love party planning! But people have made comments to me like, "How do you have time to do that." or even "WHY do you spend time on that?" Someone even asked me one why I wasted my time doing this since the boys won't remember it anyway. That stung a bit. Well, it's simple. You MAKE time for what you like to do. And I enjoy this, so I make the time. It makes me happy. So, please don't judge me or don't make fun of people who party plan just because it's something you don't do yourself. It's a hobby for them. It's a hobby for me. For example, I don't watch a lot of tv. So instead watching tv or movies, I spend some time in August planning their birthday party. Is that so wrong? Not at all. It's therapeutic. It's crafty. I love it! 

So, please don't be hard on the party planners out there. If they're like me, they aren't trying to outdo anyone, they are just doing something they enjoy. Okay, my rant ends now. ;)

Although I must say that now with a 3rd child, I'm not sure the parties will be like this much longer. This is a fun hobby for me so I'll keep doing as much as I can. But I do realize I will probably have to take a step back from all of this as time is so limited. Hopefully I can make sure Caleb gets a few super cool themed parties too.

Okay, back to the superhero party details:

I can hardly believe the twins are 4 years old! This year they wanted a superhero themed party. We had a great day celebrating with family on their actual birthday, September 13th. We held the party at Memorial Park in Spirit Lake, Iowa so it was in more of a central location for everyone attending. Nick grew up in SL and his parents still live there. We had hoped to be able to use the brand new free outdoor waterpark "splash pad" there at the park, but it was a cool day so that wasn't an option. But the sun shone bright and it was still beautiful. Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate!

They had fun helping make this giant "birthday" sign as a decoration. Will asked for the names of each person who would be at the party and drew them up at the top!

Each year I make a Birthday Banner with favorite photos of the twins each month over the past year. You can see it in the photo above but I took "close-up" photos below so you could see the photos better. Let's see if I can keep up with this tradition in future years!

Elijah and Will have never even seen any superhero shows or movies but for some reason they still think superheroes are the coolest. Elijah has loved superman from the beginning and Will has loved Batman. They've never switched it up. They also decided that was what they would be for Halloween this year. So, we bought used costumes from a friend who also has twin boys. We wrapped them up and gave them to E & W as birthday gifts. So they use them to play with for dress-up and can also wear them for their Halloween costumes. Win-win!

The park is so beautiful right by the lake.

Invitations I designed:

We asked everyone to dress up as their favorite superhero, if they wished. Or to just wear a superhero shirt. A lot of people did. So fun! Here's my crazy family:

Superbaby Caleb!

First, we had a special concert from the "Kumbayaya's!" Grammy Carolyn plays in a band with her friends and they gave Eli and Will a special surprise concert. They sang a few songs and ended with "Happy Birthday!" So fun!

Next was the mask/bracelet/ring making activity. It was a big success! I found a great deal on prepacked kits so it was easy for each child to take one set and make.

How cute is this SUPERBABY!?  My niece, Eleanor!

Awesome job on your mask, Spiderman Max!

Here they all are sporting their awesome creations:

Here are all of Eli, Will, & Caleb's cousins except for Ryder. We wish she could have been there!

Superhero Dress-Up area:

Awesome!

Superhero Tattoos!

Guestbooks:

These exact books are out at every birthday party each year. I just turn the page each year and asks guests to sign their name and write an individual note to each boy. Then all the years are there together for them to cherish when they are older.

My normal cake decorater was on maternity leave. But HyVee did a great job making it too. Half superman, half batman. Eli loves vanilla, so his half was white cake. Will loves chocolate so his half was chocolate. I love how different my little boys are! And they each got 4 rings that were used as decorations on the cake. They thought that was pretty awesome.

Cupcakes and "toppers" I made:

And what fun is a party without food?

I forgot to take a photo of the entire table of food. Oops!

But we served pizza, chips, watermelon, a few salads, veggies and dip, etc.

Superhero Water:

Lemonade:

It frustrates me at parties when you see cups everywhere and never know which one is yours. 

So I made everyone their own individual superhero cups! I designed these on the computer and then printed them off on full sheets of sticker paper.

And if you consumed these goodies, you received these superpowers:

* builds muscles *

*enhances agility *

* boots invisibility *

* energy blast *

* increases elasticity *

* improves laser vision *

Opening gifts: 

The twins are blessed to have been born on my dad's birthday! How special to share a birthday with their grandfather! So we celebrated my dad's birthday too. 

 Eli and Will were my dad's first grandsons. And I had delivered them on his birthday. So, I think that was a good enough gift in itself. Therefore, I'm not sure I really need to give him anything else in future years. And this year I gave him his third grandson. I'm his only child to give him grandsons so far!

Happy 66th birthday, dad!!

Party favors for the kids:

Full of superhero candies and tattoos I found for super cheap at the Dollar Tree!

Thank you cards I made that we sent out with Eli & Will's drawings on the inside.

And here are a few photos of some of the superheroes still partying the next day at Grammy & Papa's house! Here are Elijah & Will's Halloween costumes for tomorrow!

I can barely handle the cuteness!