I mentioned in a recent post that Savannah and Abigail spent the night with Paw and Rae Rae from February 12th-14th, which left Brooklyn as an only child at our house on her birthday! It was really helpful for me since I was getting everything ready for her party that Saturday, and it gave the birthday girl some special 1-on-1 attention that she doesn’t usually get.
Brooklyn can be pretty persuasive, and she convinced us to let her open one gift on the night before her birthday ;)
Back in February, Brooklyn was really interested in space, specifically the solar system. But it was a struggle to find books about space for kids that were written from a Christian perspective. With some help from a friend at church, I found a book called The Answers Book for Kids. She was really excited! It seems like it’s written for older kids, but we were still able to go through some of it with her and explain it on her level. Hopefully she will enjoy it for years to come.
The next morning, Brooklyn opened another gift before school. It was a watch…she was really excited! She had picked out the color and couldn’t wait to wear it to school.
Brooklyn decided she wanted to go out to eat at Five Guys for her birthday dinner that night, but in typical Brooklyn fashion, she changed her mind on the way there and asked if we could go to IHOP instead. Since we didn’t have the other girls with us, it wasn’t a big deal to change restaurants at the last minute, so we did :) She was so full on pancakes that she didn’t have any room for cake when we got home. She loved her gifts, and she thanked us repeatedly for them. That night she prayed asking God to help her “be a good 7 year old” :)
Paw and Rae Rae brought Savannah and Abigail home the next evening (2/14), and they spent the night with us so they would be here for Brooklyn’s party the next day. Brooklyn opened a few gifts that night before we all went to bed.
She had been asking for a specific American Girl doll, Julie, for a while, and she was really excited that Paw and Rae Rae got it for her!
So happy!
Abigail hogged most of Paw’s attention, as usual ;)
We enjoyed the evening together. After getting the kids in bed, Travis and Mom helped me take some stuff down to the clubhouse to start setting up for Brooklyn’s party the next day…
Brooklyn decided that she wanted to have an art party for her birthday! She loves arts and crafts and is so creative, so it’s no surprise that this kind of party was right up her alley. We decided to have it at the neighborhood clubhouse rather than at an art studio because most places like that limit you to 10 or 12 kids. Once you account for siblings and cousins, she would have only been able to invite a couple of friends…so we decided the clubhouse was a better idea. I loved how these invitations from Etsy turned out :)
We kept the decorations and food pretty simple since the activities were really the main focus of the party. We served sandwiches, chips, and fruit for lunch, and of course, birthday cake for dessert!
I painted each child’s name on an art smock…they doubled as a “favor” for the kids to take home with them :)
I really liked how we set up the tables for the party. The blue table held all of the supplies for the activities, and the red table was where the kids sat to decorate their party hats, paint their canvases, and eat!
I bought some birthday party hat decorating kits on Amazon. They included stickers and cut outs to make silly faces for each hat. It was an easy activity that didn’t make a mess, so it was a good activity to start out with as the kids were arriving.
It was fun to see how everyone’s hats turned out :) I even wore one as an example for the kids…haha
We lucked out that the weather wasn’t bitterly cold that day, so the kids played outside on the playground for a few minutes while we got everything set up for the next activity: painting canvases!
Obviously, this could have gone awry in a hurry mixing kids and paint ;) But it was washable paint so I wasn’t too worried. And it actually went really smoothly! We didn’t have any major messes, and the kids really enjoyed it.
I had some paint with water books for Abigail, Luke, and Barrett to use instead of painting with real paint :)
I loved how their canvases turned out!!
Brooklyn requested a piñata for her party this year, so I decided that would be a fun activity to get the kids outside to burn off some energy. So glad that the weather cooperated (it was chilly, but at least it was sunny!) because I’m not sure we could have used it inside or on the patio.
The piñata took quite a few swings to break into it. It was pretty funny. Abigail enjoyed trying to hit it too! Jacob was proud to be the one to finally break it all the way open.
Once it broke, it was a mad dash to see who could gather up the most candy and treats :)
Afterward, we came back in for lunch…
…and then it was time to open gifts! Brooklyn’s friends and family know her well. She got lots of books, craft kits, and unicorn stuff! :)
Brooklyn surprised me and acted a little embarrassed when everyone sang to her and she wanted me to sit with her when she opened her gifts. Maybe she’s not quite as attention-loving as she used to be?
Overall though, the party went really smoothly, and we all had a great time!!
As if celebrating for several days straight wasn’t enough, the next day we had Brooklyn’s birthday lunch at Cici’s after church. Brooklyn asked for a strawberry cake, and Cici made one that was really yummy.
It took quite a few tries for her to blow all those candles out (she must be getting old!). It was definitely not pandemic approved to be spitting all over that cake…haha. Thankfully this was before the world turned upside down a few weeks later…
Cici gave Brooklyn this circuit kit for kids. Yes, Brooklyn actually asked for it after seeing one that her friend Bristol got for Christmas. It turned out to be a big hit with her and with Travis….haha.
Needless to say, Brooklyn had a wonderful birthday and felt very loved after so much celebrating!
