Brady's 3rd Birthday Party

Brady turned 3 on Thursday, so last Saturday we had a little party for him. When I asked him what kind of party he wanted he told me without hesitation that he wanted a Super Hero party. So a Super Hero party it was. We invited our closest friends and family and everyone we invited was able to come! It was such a fun time! 

We had the party at our neighborhood park. There are a couple pavilions with picnic tables so my plan was to decorate one of the pavilions and claim it for the party. It's not something you reserve, so I worried all week that someone else in the neighborhood would be having a party there at the same time we were (even though the park is always empty). I can find anything to worry about. On Saturday morning after Ryan's soccer game we headed over to decorate and, as always, the park was empty. I was so happy and relieved.

Sweet Lindsey came early and got some pictures. She photographed the whole thing. She is so nice.

When I asked Brady what kind of cake he would like, he said he wanted a Batman cake. We have just about every Batman figurine ever made so it was quite the task to find a new one to put on top. After looking at several different stores for a small Batman action figure with no luck, I ended up with a huge Batman. I stuck him in the cake up to his knees to try and make it work.

I wanted to do the Batman symbol with sprinkles. I googled how to do a stencil on a cake and was all set. Spoiler Alert: It was harder than they made it look. I used parchment paper as the stencil. I put the frosted cake in the fridge for a few minutes to let it set. When I went to put the sprinkles on they all rolled off because the frosting was so hard! I ended up having to press all the sprinkles into the frosting with my finger and then when I took the parchment paper off, the frosting was soft again and it started pulling up the frosting and the cake! Luckily, once I put all the candles and the Batman on it you couldn't really tell. Also, it was for a 3 year old's birthday, so, who cares?

We started the party with games. I had three games planned. A super villain target practice, Good Guys and Bad Guys (aka Sharks and Minnows) and a scavenger hunt for paper frog cut outs on the playground.

We used the soccer goal to hang the bad guys up and I bought some (surprisingly high powered) Nerf guns to shoot the bad guys.

All the guests came dressed as super heroes. Ryan and Brady were planning on wearing their Halloween costumes but it was so hot outside I convinced them to just wear capes instead. The kids looked so cute with their little capes on.

When I was planning the party I wanted everything to stay with the theme. So when I planned the "Sharks and Minnows" game, I made sure to call it Super Heroes and Bad Guys. Zach was the bad guy and he tried to tag the Super Heroes as they ran across the field. I had Zach explain the game to the kids and the first words out of his mouth were, "Okay! Now we are going to play Sharks and Minnows. I'm the shark and you guys are the minnows." Facepalm. And there goes our theme.

The kids loved it. They only played one round, but they would have been up for playing many, many more.

As Zach prepared to explain the next game I pulled him aside and scripted him. Haha, I have control issues- I know. The story was: The Joker played a trick and hid frogs all over the Super Hero headquarters (the play ground) and it was their job to find all the frogs.

Zach explaining the frog game. He said just what I told him to. He's the best.

I bought little frog cut outs at the dollar store and Zach hid them all over the play ground equipment. The kids had fun finding all the frogs.

Brady getting a little help from Rick to reach a high frog. 

 The last thing we did was let the kids loose with the guns on the bad guys. They loved it, but it was crazy trying to keep track of turns. After a short time I got out lolly pops to try and lure some of the kids away from the target practice. Maddox was our die hard marksman and stuck with it for quite some time.

After the games, we had a pizza lunch. If you've never had the deep dish pizza from Little Caesars, stop reading and go do it. Do it now.

Yum.

Grandma Great came. Camden was thrilled to see her!

 The kids all played on the play ground after lunch before we corralled them all back to open presents. Brady got some really fun gifts. We have really nice friends and family.

Chantilly was the only girl at the party, but with two brothers she had no trouble getting into the Super Hero spirit of things.  Also, she is the most beautiful little girl I have ever met. 

 Next it was time for cake! The wind blew out Brady's candles just before he had a chance to blow them out himself so we had to do a re-do.

Travis- the littlest Super Hero.

 It ended up being a really fun party. It was a lot of fun to have an excuse to get together and the kids had a blast playing with each other!

Happy Birthday Brady! We love you!