Last weekend, we threw Lumen a really special party for her fourth birthday! With her birthday being only a week after Christmas (and 3 days before her brother's birthday), we had a hard time coming up with fun ideas that would set her day apart. And with the weather being so cold, our options were even more limited. So we decided to go with a "gymnastics" theme and just let her and her friends get wild in the confines of our apartment. We cleared out our TV and console, couches, coffee table and rug from our living room, rounded up some tumbling mats, a balance beam and play tunnel and went from there! Considering the rental of an indoor play space runs about $200 and gets booked up too fast during the wetter months, we decided we were just better off getting creative with what we had at home. I went to Target and purchased some craft supplies, balloons, a pack of dance ribbons, and some party favor trinkets, which besides the food, was the bulk of our expenses! Hooray for DIY. I'm obsessed with Target's "Hand Made Modern" stuff, which is a really cute line of craft supplies and projects for kids. I got some mixed-print tissue paper to make paper poofs with (is that what they're even called?) and a crepe paper flower making kit. I also used up some of our gold wrapping paper from Christmas to make little origami stars for the table. It may seem like a lot of work, but we were on staycation the week after Christmas and I had plenty of time for these little crafts. Not to mention, the poofs and paper flowers are now resident decorations in the kids room. :)
As for the food, we went with a brunch theme. Donuts, cinnamon rolls, quiche, lots of fruit, and of course, cake. What's a party without some delicious, sugary treats and dance ribbons to spin around with?
A friend of mine has a daughter who happens to be a very talented gymnast/contortionist, and we had her come and do some cool tricks for the kids! It was so cute to watch her do something ridiculously bendy and then see the kids get so excited and try to copy her. As for the rest of the time, we put on some music (Frozen, really, what else?) and let the kids jump, spin and dance to their hearts content.
As for her big surprise, we got her the cutest "big girl" bike from PUBLIC Bikes. She's wanted a bigger bike for a while now, since her knees have been knocking into the handle bars of her little red tricycle. As tricky as it is having both of our kids' birthdays right after Christmas and 3 days apart, one perk I've noticed is the crazy post-holidays sales! This sweet bicycle was half off!
This party turned out really fun, and there were even zero injuries. Success! :)