Party in the USA!!

We threw Raia her very first birthday party *ever* yesturday. In fact, it was the first birthday party we'd thrown for any of our kids. (we're such slackers! LOL) We never did 1st birthday parties because we didn't see the point, seeing as they would be too young to remember, and none of our family lives close enough to attend. We'd casually been talking about throwing Raia a birthday part after she attended her very first birthday party last November (and how we managed to go *five years* without our kid being invited to someone's birthday party, I'll never know), but it wasn't until the beginning of the month that we really started talking about it as a sure thing, and only last week that we started planning it. I think we pulled together something fun and special, but not over-the-top. I'd be surprised if we spent $100 on the event.

The theme (and I use that term loosely) was "Tinkerbell", whom Raia *adores*. We had Tinkerbell invitations, Tinkerbell cups and plates and napkins, bright green plastic utencils, bright green and yellow balloons (only six), Tinkerbell paper lunch sacks to catch the pinata candy (which I convinced Raia to go with a cheaper flower shaped one, than the Tinkerbell one she originally wanted), and each kid got to go home with a Tinkerbell plastic sandwhich holder (found them for a dollar a piece the day before the party!) And, of course, we had a Tinkerbell cake. We spent most of Saturday morning and afternoon cleaning the house, buying the balloons, and picking up the cake.

For our main activity we had the guests meet us at a local bowling ally, and we paid for two rounds of bowling for the kids. Raia always mentioned bowling as being what she wanted to do for a birthday party (since that's what she did at the party she attended last Novcember), and it was cheap enough. :) The kids all had fun, and the adults chatted while we watched their balls roll ever so slowly down the lanes, nudging a bumper once or twice, then gently knocking down a few pins. Raia got two spares and a strike, and Errol got several spares. I got several gutter balls. :oP (the running joke was that I should go to the front desk and ask them to have the bumpers go up for my turn as well)

After the bowling was finished we went caravaned home and had pizza and chocolate milk (George had stayed home with Patrick so that he could bake it, and also because Patrick would have gone nuts at the bowling alley. We had cheese pizza, which is Raia's favorite, and a pepperoni pizza). After pizza was a pinata, opening presents, then cake, plus some general running around in the backyard. We had the Tinkerbell movie playing on the TV in the livingroom, but I don't think any of the kids watched more than 5 mintues of it. At the end of the party each kid was sent home with one of the green or yellow balloons, and a Tinkerbell (or Buzz and Woody for the boys) sandwhich holder, plus there were the Tinkerbell lunch bags of candy from the pinata. There were only four kids, so it wasn't a huge party, but just the right size to have fun and make Raia feel special. When the guests had all left Raia did a little dance and said "That was the BEST birthday party EVER!" Just what a frazzled mom wants to hear. ;)