Every year on Molly’s birthday, I rack my brain to come up with a unique party idea. Then I scour the town and the internet looking for decorations, favors, supplies, the perfect cake and all of the other things that I need to make the party a success. I sit at my computer and design unique and individualized birthday invitations. I spend an entire day cleaning and preparing the house and then I hold the party playing the roles of mom, hostess, emcee, and friend.
Molly’s parties have been fun, but they have also taken a whole lot of time and energy. Two things I have very little of at the moment.
So this year I outsourced the party, and it was good. Very good.
I picked up the phone and made a reservation, addressed store bought invitations, and let Molly pick out a cake from Kroger’s that had absolutely nothing to do with the theme of the party (well there really wasn’t a theme to begin with).
On the day of the party I slept in, had a leisurely breakfast and 10 minutes before the party began, we got into the car and drove to the location. Nice!
We held the party at a new kids entertainment place in town. Half of the space is filled with inflatables which include a Jumbo Bounce House, several inflatable games, rock wall and other bouncy fun things to do. The other half of the space has a 4 level play structure with slides and other interactive play spaces.
We also had our own private party room with not one, but two hosts who took care of setting things up, running the party, supervising the kids, recording the gifts, cutting the cake, scooping the ice cream, and cleaning up. Heck I didn’t even need to bring plates, cups or napkins. I didn’t have to do a thing!
Except take pictures. And carry Sam. And talk with parents. And ride the slide. But that was all fun stuff. All of the work was done for me. Can I get a WAHOO?!!
The first half of the party the kids played in the bouncy area.
Abbydoo and Molly inside the bounce house.
Austin and Allison having a bouncing good time!
Ana and Alex playing one of the many inflatable games.
Mia scales the rock wall…
…followed by Avery and Alex.
After 45 minutes of bouncing, the kids moved over to the play structure. Think McDonalds Playland on steroids. The play structure was huge!
Avery testing out one of the slides.
Molly following close behind.
I am only posting this very scary picture of myself because it has a story to go with it. I mean look at my expression. You gotta know there was something behind that.
I look ahead to see a two year old standing at the bottom of our slide. He was just standing there! You can see the top of his head at the bottom of the picture. Yikes!
I knew we were going to hit him and it scared the daylights out of me, as you can plainly see. I’m not exactly sure what happened, but we missed 90% of the little guy. He got knocked over but stood up without a whimper. His parents apologized for not monitoring him and I went to change my pants.
Molly and Rylee having fun inside the play structure.
Here’s the cake that Molly selected. Doesn’t she look happy!
sucked wasn’t very good. Four inches of disgusting frosting covering a cake that was so crumbly that you couldn’t even eat it. Live and learn.
Molly blowing out SIX candles!
Group shot of table 1.
Group shot of table 2.
Even Sam got in on the cake eatin’.
Besides jumping and playing and cake eating, there was also some hugging. Brody hugs his daddy.
Rylee and Avelyn share a hug between friends.
Next up was gifts! Molly sat with each friend as she opened their gift. I loved this! It made each person feel special.
Brody watching Molly open a Hello Kitty scrapbook.
Molly opens Lego Friends from her classmate and friend Jack.
Avelyn gave Molly a hair beading kit…perfect for the girl who loves to have her hair coiffed!
Molly’s good buddy Allison gave Molly a basket full of Barbie goodies.
Molly gave Ana a thank you hug after opening her horse necklace.
Molly and Max show off Molly’s new Lego Friends Tree House and mosaic frame kit.
Molly, Rylee and Minnie Mouse.
Molly, Abby and Alex pose for a picture after Molly opened their bag stuffed with a Zhu Zhu puppy, puppy house and lots and lots of other goodies.
Avery gave Molly a Password Journal, which she absolutely adores!
Molly couldn’t wait to get home to color this tote from Austin.
Molly thanks her best friend Mia for the Toys R Us gift certificate.
The whole gang poses for a picture at the end of the party.
And so does our little gang! So nice to finally be a family of four.
Once the party officially ended, the kids were welcome to stay and play with their parents. You know your party was a hit when nobody is ready to leave. Almost everyone stayed an hour or more after the party was over! A few families were still there when we left.
We were really touched by the outpouring of love for Molly. Being new in town you worry that your child might not have developed enough friendships to even have a party. Molly has flourished here and has more friends than she could ever have imagined.
In addition to her new friends, some of Molly’s best friends from back home traveled over 100 miles just to be at her party…so blessed to have these special friends celebrate with us!
So my first outsourced party was a success. So easy and so fun. I loved seeing Molly so happy and enjoying her day so much.
But I still think that I will go back to throwing next year’s party myself. I guess I am just a glutton for punishment a control freak a sadistic,sick and twisted individual a hostess at heart.
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