Moose's 5th Birthday Party

We had Moose's 5th birthday party on Saturday afternoon, March 17th. It was an incredibly busy day: WineGuy chanted his Haftorah portion during Sabbath services in the morning. Wizard and I left shortly thereafter to go to Wizard's lacrosse practice. Afterwards, Wizard and I picked up platters of chicken tenders and fruit at the grocery store and a bouquet of balloons at the party store. We drove home to change clothes and get everything ready for the party. Wild Thing and Wizard helped load the car and the cooler. Moose ran around wild and crazy. We finally piled into two cars and drove down to the local miniature golf course.

It was a breezy, sunny afternoon, just perfect for an outdoors party. Hardly any of our guests showed up on time, so I grouped the kids into foursomes as they arrived. Each child had at least one parent stay, so there were plenty of chaperones. The kids were so cute playing mini golf! Some got the hang of putting the ball. Others, especially the little girls, grew frustrated with the activity and chose to just kick or roll their golf balls on the course. It was too funny! I ran around trying to take some pictures.

After about 45 minutes of play, we gathered on the deck, where I set out the platters of chicken and fruit. The kids and parents had a late snack. By then, the wind had picked up, and the kids were getting cold. We went into the screened patio for birthday cake. The mini golf place took care of everything. They ordered Moose a pirate cake; they provided balloons and paper goods; they gave us free passes to hand out as party favors. One of the employees (an older gent) is a patient of WineGuy's. He and the young guys working that afternoon took great care of us and were just terrific. [I tipped them well.]

After cake, I handed out the custom-designed t-shirts and mini-golf passes. At first, my friends weren't quite sure what I handed them, all rolled up and tied in bows. One woman unrolled the shirt, and everyone just flipped over the t-shirts. "Where did you get them?" they all asked. "Wizard and I designed and made them ourselves!" Everyone was amazed. I had Tootsie Pop bouquets for the older siblings who joined us that afternoon. I figured they wouldn't want a t-shirt with a 5 year-old's picture on it. Those were a hit, too.

I had planned the party for two hours in the late afternoon, but we finished early. The party actually lasted about 1 hour and 30-45 minutes. We were packed up and on our way home at the two-hour mark. We opened Moose's gifts at home later that evening. He received a few board games – Operation, Clue Jr., Scrabble Jr., Great States Jr. – that look good. There were several Transformers. I don't understand their appeal, but Moose likes them. One friend gave Moose a 400-piece K'Nex set. It's going back immediately. Another friend gave Moose a frog Webkin, which he should like.

I need to whip out those thank-you notes before I get bogged down with WineGuy's party later this week. Our out-of-town friends are about to screw it all up – and WineGuy told me to change the reservation for dinner – but I'm not changing a darn thing. I'll make up some fib to get us where we need to be at the last minute. More details about potential felonies in another post to follow.