Mason's Park Birthday Party!

We were able to reserve a pavilion at the park by our house for Mason's party on Sunday. It has been extremely hot here is St. Louis, highs in the upper 90s with a heat index into the 100s. Having a party outside at the park was going to be our easiest option, but the weather was not going to cooperate with us.

The predicted weather for Sunday was HOT and a chance for storms. I decided to start the party at 11am to hopefully beat the heat a little, but instead we beat the rain but it was unbelievably hot out.

Thankfully we still had a decent turnout of family and friends. Tim grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, and brats. We had potato salad, cole slaw, and chips. Yummy!

By the time we ate, the heat was kicking in pretty good. Mason found the best way to keep cool by playing in the water. I am so thankful our pavilion was equipped with a water spout. It kept the kids cool and provided lots of entertainment!!

Then it was time for presents....

and naps for the little ones!

We can't forget about the cake, no party is complete without cake! Tim's mom made Mason's birthday cake. He loves Toy Story, so she made a buzz and woody cake. It turned out great. But Mason would not blow out his candles, didn't want us to sing to him, wouldn't even sit by the cake so I could get a picture. He did eat a piece of that cake though!

We ended the party with water guns from grandma. They were the hit of the party! I don't think anyone left without being a little wet, the boys were vicious with those things! It was a great party, and I think everyone had a good time!

Timothy and Taylor's Birthday Party

On Sunday we had a party for Timothy's 4th birthday and Taylor's 1st birthday. I combined their parties because their birthday's are 3 weeks apart, and we really couldn't afford to do 2 separate parties so close together.

I decided to do the party at The Little Gym. We went to Ella's party there and the kids all seemed to have a great time! They take care of everything. The activities, setup, cleanup, everything except the cake!

First the kids got to go into the gym. In there, it is like a field day for the kids. They can climb, jump, swing, balance, play with balls, run all over, dance, ANYTHING!

Usually the staff chooses some activities to do with the kids that are geared towards the age group and development. Since most of our guests with children canceled, we didn't have many kids. 5 kids all together and 3 of them were mine. Ella was the oldest at 5 years old, and so the attention span was not there. They tried a few activities but neither Timothy or Mason would participate. But Ella did, she was such a trooper with the little ones!

Then after about an hour or so in the gym we moved to a different room to do the cake. My mom had 2 cakes made at McArthurs's Bakery. A small smash cake for Taylor and a Nascar cake for Timothy!

As soon as we started singing Happy Birthday Timothy had a melt down. I am not sure why, but he did this on his actual birthday too when we had cake and tried to sing to him. I think he has anxiety with crowds. He would not even eat any cake at all!

Taylor had just had a bottle because I wasn't sure when we would be doing the cake. So I am not sure if she just wasn't all that hungry or if she didn't like the taste, but she wasn't all that impressed. She didn't really dig in like I remember the boys doing. Both Timothy and Mason made huge messes with their 1st birthday cakes, but not Taylor. She stayed fairly clean!

Then it was finally present time. For some reason Timothy didn't want to open his presents himself. He must have been in a "mood" that day. So my dad had to help him! Both Timothy and Taylor got some awesome gifts!

A huge thanks to all our family and friends who came out to help us celebrate. It meant a lot to us to have you all there! It was a great time!