To say that Colby was excited about his birthday party would be a bit of an understatement, haha. He's been talking about his "spiderman party" for quite a while, so we had lots of time to think about ideas. He REALLY wanted a waterslide (like Sissy had), but with Spiderman and Wonder Woman on top. There were several problems with his request, the first being that his birthday is in November. Second, I've never seen a bounce house with those two characters on it. I was talking to Kevin one night before bed and he had the idea of doing silly string (Spiderman's web) and other superhero training activities. I pitched the idea to Colby the next morning and he was stoked. I also told him that the kids could jump on the trampoline since he loves to jump with friends.
I bought the invitation of Etsy because it was easy and I was able to edit the details instantly. Well worth the $6 I spent!
The Party City by us was going out of business, so Colby and I headed there for some supplies. Unfortunately, they didn't have many Spiderman items except for these generic "Thank You" cards. But we did buy an assortment of blue and red candies, red party bags, red plates, balloons, and a few table coverings.
I had Colby write his name on the bottom of each card, which was a pretty adorable project. He doesn't know how to write his name independently yet, so I made little dots for him to trace and he was awfully proud of each card :)
We spent time putting the party bags together, and he placed one card inside each bag. I am so glad that I included him in every step of the process because I think it meant more to him that way.
We set the table together, and placed a mask at each seat for when his friends arrived. Thanks, Amazon! I used some white string we had to make it look like Spiderman was hanging from the chandelier and Colby thought that was genius!
I felt pretty prepared for the party, but as the day wore on, I started feeling super sick. I had a terrible head cold and I was running out of energy. Kevin had brought home huge boxes from work that we needed to turn into skyscrapers for the superhero training, we had targets to paint for the silly string practice, and I had a few dozen balloons to blow up! Oh, and to top it all off, I was in the middle of an IVF cycle and all the medications that go with that. Since I was sick, I was feeling like I might have bit off more than I could chew, despite my earlier preparations in the week.
But, everyone pitched in and we made sure everything was done for party day. I had to go for a doctor's appointment at 8 AM, which meant that I left the house completely ready for the day at 7:30. I was home by 8:30, had breakfast with the birthday boy, let him open one present (his Spiderman costume), make final preparations, and get a few pictures before guests arrived at 10.
He really is the sweetest and I loved seeing his happy face all day!
I ordered this amazing backdrop for $15 on Amazon, and it was one of my favorite details!! Such great quality, and it made all the pictures and videos SO much better! The videos of Colby dancing to the Spiderman-Into the Spiderverse theme song will probably always be a favorite. He was totally in character and was shaking his little hips, haha.
Once all the friends were there, Kevin talked to them about their Spiderman skills and explained the obstacle course with the skyscraper boxes and ropes on the ground. He had the kids on two teams and had them complete the course as a relay. The kids all thought it was pretty fun, and it was cute watching them take it seriously. Their favorite activity was probably the silly string targets, which Brooke helped me paint and Jerry helped me hang...
And the second favorite activity was playing inside the boxes, haha. Why did I spend all this money on silly string when this kept them entertained for longer??
I took a few more pictures before we went inside for pizza, presents, and cake.
Some of the kids didn't care about a picture, so I only took pictures of those that did. Harvey Richey (a friend from church)...
Jones Linden (another friend from church, and also part of our Joyschool group)...
Ridge Peterson (also from church)...
Aubrey Peacock (cousin) and her teddy bear from school...
We served pizza (which Jerry picked up for me), fruit, and salad, which Bev prepared. I normally don't accept help for stuff like this, but I was trying to be a little less independent and allow Bev to help when she offered. She did a sort of salad bar with a variety of toppings and it was seriously yummy! Makes me hungry just thinking about it :)
As the kids were finishing up, my party planner Brooke was checking the list for the next item on our agenda. Kevin had asked her to create a party list and she totally ran with it. She likes to be organized and in control, so this role was totally up her alley. The rest of us were getting a kick out of watching her direct people and check people off on her guest list, which was on a clipboard :)
Then it was present time!! He was completely spoiled and loved every minute of it. Jones gave him an ice dragon and all the kids were amazed. I told his Grandma how much everyone loved it when she came to pick him up (mom was home with a brand new baby), and she commented that Jones and his dad had spent two hours at Walmart playing with toys before they found the perfect one, haha.
The it was time for cake...
I have been impressed with these Kroger cakes, which are priced really well and definitely deliver on the WOW factor.
Our friends Liam and Luca (and their mom, Ashley), stayed a while longer and the kids had a blast coloring on all the boxes. Maybe one year we will have a cardboard box party, haha, because these kids just kept finding more ways to play with the boxes. It was so fun to see cousins playing together, as well as friends from school.
At the end of the day, I asked Colby if he had a fun birthday party and his running hug into me said it all. I was pretty pooped at the end of the day, but it was also such a blast to celebrate our big boy. He really is SO fun and we love him to pieces.
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