James decided on a Goosebumps theme for his birthday party this year, so we ordered him the newest Goosebumps Slappyworld book "Slappy Birthday to You" and planned the minimal decor needed for his skate party around the novel. He had a "Slappy Birthday to James" birthday cake, lime green frosted cupcakes (the usual red velvet recipe), cotton candy (in reference to the Goosebumps movie with the old run down carnival), a bunch of candy, a sampler tray of Girl Scout cookies (because we had 20 boxes in the house...), chips, pretzels, pizza, and Goosebumps novels as "party treats" for his guests. He insisted on wearing his Slappy Halloween costume (so we've certainly gotten our money's worth out of that this year between Halloween, Character Day, and his birthday party!)
Almost all his Cub Scout friends attended, as well as all the boys (and their siblings) that he really wanted to party with, so he was a happy dude!
Group photos are not easy at parties since the kids are always running (or jumping or skating) around, but I tried. These photos have almost everyone (not Cora or Emma, though):
After the party, we transferred Will, Coltin, and Emma to our vehicles and took them home for a our first ever sleepover at our house. They were all SO EXCITED! I drove the girls, and it was the noisiest car ride of my life... Singing at the top of their lungs, dance moves in the back seat, joke telling, plan making, and eventually just screaming at the top of their lungs for the fun of it.
The boys were already tired from all the skating, so they happily settled in to watch the Goosebumps movie (while eating leftover pizza, chips and Ranch dip, and a little more candy...)
The girls watched Trolls (which we rented for the weekend), read some books to each other, tricked me into thinking their yawns meant they were ready for bed, then crashed the boys' party in the living room to watch Spiderman cartoons until Will and James and Coltin kicked them out because they wanted to go to bed.
The boys passed out as soon as we sent the girls back to Cora's room, but the girls were still wide awake over an hour later at 11:30pm. Jay and I gave up and went to bed at that point (we were exhausted), after telling them they could stay up talking and playing as long as they kept their door shut and their music off so that the boys could sleep.
The next morning was filled with LOT of Lego playing, some donuts (funny side story... as I was leaving to go get the donuts Jay asked me to take the girls so he and the boys could have just a little bit of peace and quiet... rather than text Dawn for permission to drive Emma around again, we just sneaked out quick, only to run into Stirlin at the donut shop - luckily he didn't mind!), a little bit of time out in the backyard, and eventually video games for the boys. (It was cold, but the girls decided to stay outside anyway.) Oh, and James opened his presents (since he didn't do so at the party last night).
Once Coltin and Emma left around noon (Will had left earlier because he was heading down to NOLA for a family adventure), Cora put back on her pajamas and fell asleep within 10 minutes of my starting Trolls for James to watch. Naps are awesome. James loved his party and his sleepover, so we'll call his 8th birthday a success!
