It's not that he hasn't had a celebration all two previous times, but I kind of have a go-to party (pizza, friends, and a pinata) which has always been a big hit, but I felt like this guy deserved a little attention and to feel special because surely it has been hard for him to not be my baby anymore. I can say that the weeks leading up to his birthday did wonders for our relationship. I may have even replaced Dadee as his best buddy. He excitedly told everyone about his Batman birthday party and he would cuddle up with me on the bed or the couch or wherever I was and want to look at all the things I was looking at on Amazon- he got excited over every single one! Pointing at the pictures of the stuff in my cart and squealing out like he was already opening presents, and talking my ears off about each and every character. He didn't know what exactly he was getting but he loved to point out all the stuff he wanted- which was everything he saw! He started using his birthday party against all of us though- whenever he was upset because I would tell him to do something like, I don't know "eat your dinner" he would tell me that I was being mean and that I couldn't come to his Batman birthday party. I think Dadee, Ollie and I got uninvited at least every other day!
All the anticipation began to build as Amazon boxes started arriving and Dadee came home with a truck full of wood and spray paint. We spent a few nights under Jed's close watch while we built Gotham City. I started to wonder if we were doing a good thing though because all of the attention was making him feel like king of the world and there were some moments where it felt like we were all his subjects. Day of the party was a little intense. The party was in the late afternoon but I had a ton of running around to do in order to get ready, and had my friend Frances, my mother and Grandma Jennifer not shown up to help I would have been the one having a two year old melt down! While I was out I grabbed Batman shirts for everyone in the family, and once we got Jed over the tantrum he threw because he wanted to wear the shirt I got for Ollie the party was ready to begin! (He had a real melt down over that one, he refused to wear anything batman and went in his room and pulled out an old shirt from Valentine's with a big heart on the front and put it on- but Dadee helped him make a better choice and he finally put on the shirt I got him. Who knew!)
Good thing he is a cutie because when he turns on his charm and decides to be happy- that's when this boy owns me! And luckily he did just that for his party! He was first up for the first game...
Everyone got a turn throwing 12 SKLZ Bolt Balls at stacks of black and yellow cups. We recorded the total number of cups they knocked over and that determined who got to pick their prize first.
Ollie never ceases to pull out the entertainment factor. He may not have knocked down the most but he did a little crazy dance to pump up the excitement for everyone before he threw.
Laynee got a little crazy and started throwing two balls at a time- she was a double threat!
After they all got a turn we took them outside for their prize which was to be named a superhero of their choice! They were excited to see superhero masks and capes all pinned up blowing in the wind.
Even though Jed already has another Batman mask and cape (a different version) he would have died if he didn't get Batman so I let the Birthday boy go first, and then everyone else was called up in the order of their score from the game.
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| The Superhero Squad |
Now that they were all dressed up it was time for their first Superhero Challenge. Word on the street was that Superman was in a bind. He had been captured and couldn't get away because he was covered in Kryptonite. The Superheros had to race through an obstacle course and free him of the Kryptonite. SuperDad set it all up so he got to give them the instructions- and doesn't he look cute in his cape and mask :)
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| Go through the tunnel |
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| Follow the path |
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| Jump through the tires |
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| Fill up the Wheel Barrow with balls and race to the next station |
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| Run over the bridge- and don't fall into the hot lava |
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| Save Superman! |
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| Proud Superheros |
So we were off to the Bat-cave where Batman was waiting to greet us!
Once they all had an empty treat bag and were all in the cave, Batman pulled the string to the balloon drop and black balloons filled with candy showered down on kids who squealed with excitement! It was fun to watch them pop balloons and scurry around gathering the candy that exploded out of them. Jed got one sucker and was so happy about it he didn't pick up another piece.
Once they had bags full of candy, we were onto the next adventure. Bane and his band of bad guys had taken over Gotham City and Batman needed some help from the Superheros! (I never did quite finish Gotham City but I don't think the kiddos noticed!)
I abandoned Matt at this point so I could go setup the next event. Poor guy had tons of kids with loaded guns that all needed help getting them to fire, probably could have just had two at a time shooting but they still seemed to enjoy it. And I failed to give them their prizes for shooting the bad guys but they were so content with their bags of candy that they didn't even notice.
After I "discovered" two frozen Batman's hanging up in the back yard I ran to the back and yelled out to the kids that the Penguin had frozen Batman and I needed their help. That was probably one of my favorite moments of the party- they ate it up! All of the little superheros were suddenly running at me all concerned and anxious to see what had happened to Batman!
There were actually two Batman's that were frozen so I split them up into teams and they had two super soakers for each team. They were supposed to run back and forth and hand off the water guns to their other team mates. That kind of worked that way for a little bit...
Except Jed really didn't have an interest in shooting the super soaker, I think he was more excited about getting to keep the Batman that was inside the frozen ice block- either that or he was trying to figure out how the Penguin did it? (I was going to have the Penguin fly in with a note about Batman, but ran out of time so he just got to open the Penguin as a present.)
As they started to make some major progress on one of the Batman's they joined forces to free him and all together gave up on the other one. Surprisingly they had him free somewhat quickly and the kids were all excited to get all of the ice off of him.
With games over, it was time for dinner and dessert. I didn't even get a picture of the superheros eating, I was just too busy running around. Grandma Jennifer made the most delicious sheet cake from scratch and honestly Jed was more excited about the Batman figures that went on the cake than he was anything else. He named all of them for Grandma Jennifer and had a hard time when we wouldn't just give them to him and stuck them in his cake instead. (He told Grandma Jennifer she could have Catwoman.)
Happy Birthday Wishes for Jed as he blew out all three of his candles...
Even though we didn't get a great picture of it, I loved his reaction after he asked if he could keep his Batman figures and I said "Yes!" He could hardly contain himself!
He went right in to get his Batman- and that wrapped his party! A Birthday success! And he is still talking about it (not to mention Ollie wants to know when it's his Birthday already!)
Happy Birthday Jed! You will always be my Batman MUAH!
Amazing, beautiful birthday celebration :-)
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