Alex's 7th Birthday Party

Alex's birthday fell on opening day of the deer hunt this year which is right in the middle of Fall Break from school so we debated when to do his friend birthday party.  We decided to do it the Wednesday before his birthday which was the last day of school before the break.  I worried that some of his friends would be leaving town right after school but only one did and the others were all able to come.  I was really happy with the turnout Alex got.  He has a couple of new friends in his class this year that I hadn't even met so I wondered how many would come without knowing us but they all came.

Alex couldn't decide what kind of party he wanted to have either so after a lot of thought (and persuading by mom), he decided on a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle party.  Halen did one last year and they kids seemed to like it and I still had some of the party games so it worked out good.

The treat table & ninja stars

TMNT cupcakes

The boys ate treats and watched an episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles while we waited for everyone to arrive before we went out back for some games.  First up was the Ninja Star toss.  Randy made some great origami ninja stars that the boys threw into pizza boxes and we we kept track of their points in each box.

Then we threw manhole covers into a bucket to see how many they could get in.

 

Then we did relay races by balancing the pizza boxes on their heads...there was a lot of cheating on this one.

Finally, we went in the house to do the last game but I didn't get any pics of it.  We had made nun chucks for each of them and did a relay race where they put a marble in one end and poured it in the nun chuck of the next person and which ever team got the most marbles at the end of the line won.  They had a lot of fun with this game.

Then it was time for presents and cake and ice cream.  Alex got lots of fun toys and was definitely spoiled.

And you can't forget the pinata.  We actually still had the ninja star we used for Halen's party so we just patched up the one hole and filled it again...I hate paying so much for pinatas. 

They lined up quick to take a swat at the star :)

Alex took the first swings

We almost made it through the whole line before it broke open

I think the kids had a good time and Alex seemed to have fun so I was happy with the party.  I'm just glad I don't have to plan another one for another 10 months. :)  Since the family would all be together for the deer hunt, we did Alex's family party up at grandma and grandpa Simkins' on Saturday.  We were going to go up Friday night and stay over but Mia started running a fever and it was kind of rainy so we opted to stay home and just go up Saturday morning and spend the day.  Alex's cake almost survived the trip up to Enterprise but the icing started cracking and separating so I'm wishing I would have taken a pic before we left our house but oh well.

Leonardo is Alex's favorite turtle

Singing "Happy Birthday"

Opening presents

I feel bad that Alex's birthday always gets overshadowed by deed season and we always end up having a quick party in the middle of the morning and afternoon hunts.  I kind of wish I would have thought through it all 7 years ago and just gone to my due date so Alex could have his birthday at the end of the hunt instead.  I just didn't want another 10 lb baby so was anxious to get him here.  Oh well, I'm just glad to have Alex in our family and can't believe how fast he's growing up.  He's such a thoughtful and caring boy and we love him so much!