There was a gaggle of them — buddies from her preschool, pals from her sister’s 2nd grade class & their younger siblings, and one adorable little lady from dance. Together they helped Mouse have one of the best afternoons ever.
The only way to eat a princess castle cake is with an elegant fork.
There was splashing in the kiddie pool, fun at the water table, Wiffle ball, soccer, swinging and later turning the dry slide into a watery one, and bouncing in the coolest moonbounce ever. And then indoors, when a break from the 85 degrees & sun was needed, cars & parking garage play, dragons & princesses in the castle play, and hide & seek. Meanwhile, ALL the parents stayed and hung out together in the backyard under the shade of our mighty pine. None of the adults knew each other going in — we were the glue that bound the group. That everyone got along, laughed, ate, drank, and was merry made the day a joy for the Mrs. and I as well. I mean, the kids having fun was cool and all, but having mostly-uninterrupted adult conversation for 3+ hours was like finding a folded up twenty dollar bill in your pants pocket…and then having that wad of bird shit land a foot to your left.
The wizard castle moonbounce
The theme of the Mouse’s 5th birthday party, in so much that there was one, was Wizards, Wishes & Wands. Hence the rad bouncey house, um, decor? The goodie bags were filled with hand-carved (not by me) wooden wizard wands from Etsy, bubble wands, fairies
We didn’t open gifts during the party. This was my decision. I was, as I always am, scared to death about what evil mass merchandised kiddie crap lurks within. Thanks to the philanthropic Bear, we’ve avoided this entirely in the past. But, since the invited guests at this party, unlike say at a family party, do not know us very well nor do they know about our firm position on certain gigantic children’s franchises, the door was wide open to the possibility of Bratz, Disney Princess, Dora, etc. To avoid eye rolls and snarky comments from the Mouse at the opening of such presents and towards the guilty gift givers, we waited till our guests departed to dive into the pile. Too bad really, because all the gifts, every single one of them, was spot-on brilliant. Girly, yes, but crafty, creative, interesting, and fun as well. The Mouse was ecstatic. She wasn’t alone.
"There's nothing shitty in these gift bags!"
The music during the birthday party was courtesy of a rock-solid 10-song playlist curated by the Mouse. This will be an off-cycle episode of the OWTK Kid’s Music Monthly Podcast very shortly. Stay tuned…
Mouse Mix 5 Birthday Party Playlist Artwork
