Making a Birthday special.

Pre-kids I never realized how important a kids birthday is to the parents.  Of course parents gave birth but it was supposed to be your day and you were allowed to think about yourself, mainly.  Now as a parent, I try to make the birthday for the child special but also enjoy the memories it brings of that special time in our lives.

For a birthday everyone knows that birthday cake is usually involved and often a birthday party.  But how about the below ideas also?  We have difficult days for birthday parties, one during mid summer and one around Thanksgiving. If for whatever reason you can't have a large party or want to add to the festivities then check out the below.

Write 'Happy Birthday Name' on the driveway for the person, the mailman, the delivery guy and all the neighborhood to see the birthday sign.  Fluoro or glow in the dark chalk will also 'impress' the passers by.  My preschooler helped coloring in the lines.

Birthday banners can be made or bought.  We did both and scattered them around the house, both inside and out.

We made some of our decorations cause we love crafting.  So we made home made stars and hung them on the doorways and windows.

The preschooler and I cut strips of colored paper with the shaped scissors and attached a balloon. I got my husband to help with the ladder to stick them to the ceiling every 3ft or so, it looked much nicer than appears in the below shot.  For some reason my high/ceiling shots don't come out as well (maybe no focal point?).

Also while he was sleeping the night before his birthday we blew up balloons and scattered them all over his room, so he woke up with a nice surprise.  I didn't take too many pics but I think you get the picture.

Also we hung streamers all over his bedroom door, so he walked through a streamer curtain when he got out of the room, also missing that image.

Party or not there must be cake and we usually order one from our local supermarket bakery or you can make it yourself.

Birthday poster on the wall in front of the kids table.

On the day he got to choose all meals, including where he wanted to eat and what he wanted to do.  Minimal rules and he got to eat candy between meals etc.  Something to differentiate the day from the usual day to day. Make sure you tell the restaurant that you are celebrating a restaurant for a round of Happy Birthday.

We bought a 'Its my birthday button' and made him wear it on the day.  So anyone he would meet would wish him a happy birthday.  Or you could make a birthday hat. We also got a birthday pre recorded message for our birthday boy too. One other idea we never got to is to write a birthday letter to your child, perhaps next year.  

Happy Birthday Stephen!  

May your future birthday planning be easy and fun too!

XO

Photos, Macs & Woodloch

One new thing I've done this year is convert our old Mac into a slideshow of our digital photos (we turn it on in the morning and off at night).  It looks good and we love to see what photo will pop up.  Who prints photos anymore anyway?  The kids love it and my youngest child is home a lot more than my eldest so he gets to see lots of old photos.  In particular, photos of the eldest having fun in lots of different pictures.  'No, that isn't you in the photos, it is your brother on vacation/at the amusement park/with friends/out/doing things etc' :(

We've been stressed lately with day to day life (can you tell we live in the NE?) that we've made an effort to take more breaks this year.  Especially since my youngest child is now no longer a baby (and doesn't need baby paraphernalia).  Also we promise to take him to as many activities as (the pictures prove) his brother went to.

So Woodloch was the perfect starting point.  It is a great all inclusive family resort.  We loved it the first time we went with my oldest child.  It has loads of activities to keep kids busy and the parents hence get a break and might enjoy it too.  Also mom doesn't need to stress out about meals, they are included and the options are good.  'Junior doesn't want the sandwich he ordered?  No problem, would he like a fruit salad, yogurt, ice cream etc? ' Also costume characters would appear during the meal so that the parents might get some time to enjoy their meal while the kids were amused. And the meals were very good, home cooked food.  Lots of courses too, in case you are hungry: salad, soup, main meal, bread, sides, dessert.

Popular activities this time around were the go carts, bumper cars, ride on jeeps, art & craft room, storytime, did I mention pool!  They added a splash area since we were there last time and the kids had a blast, I got to sit in the hot tub (no kids under 14 ;) ) till I wrinkled.  Life guards on duty but parents should be nearby (thanks hubby) to watch younger kids.  Snow tubing (great snow tube run right by our room), indoor playgym, games room, and more.

You can use the resort any time you get to the resort (even if your room isn't ready) and you can also use it the last day of your trip till late. So with that said and with occasional discounts and off season rates it is an affordable nearby trip!

Of course we took lots of pictures to add to our digital images on the Mac, but somehow it didn't seem as many pictures as the first time around ;(

xo