This Is Eight

To say that summer is finally here is an understatement!  We were hit with a heat wave over the weekend and totally unprepared (I'm sitting here writing this post at the mercy of my rotating fan - enough said).  We also celebrated a pretty special day on Saturday - Jadon's eighth birthday!!

I still can't believe my baby is 8.  He woke up telling me how he felt so much older and possibly a little taller, haha!  Oh, buddy, just you wait!  We had a pretty hectic day ahead of us, as we scheduled his party on his actual birthday.  Everything was running smoothly until we had to wait for hubby to get ready (anyone who knows Gary, knows).  

Anyways, one traffic jam later and (only) a half hour late to his own party, we finally showed up at a local trampoline park, Extreme Air Park.  Jadon has been dying to have his party there ever since his older sister's birthday a few years ago and, coincidently, we were just there for a birthday party a couple weeks ago.

Here's a few tips to know about having a party at Extreme Air Park:

• fill out your waivers before the party
• arrive early (like 30 minutes before your jump time).  This will give everyone time to check in and have the front desk organize payment, etc.
• make sure you count and keep track of your Extreme Air Sox as they are given to you
• ensure that your entire party has their Air Sox and time tags (a sticker with the time that they're allowed to jump until)
• bring a cooler filled with ice for any items that need to be kept cold (eg: ice cream cakes, drinks, etc.), as you won't have access to your party room until the allotted time
• bring a water bottle for the kids.  They'll be active for most of their jump time and they tend to get tired/thirsty fairly quickly!
• kids 5 and under need to have a paid parent to supervise
• make sure you let the Extreme Air Park team know the final number of your party to ensure that they reserve a room catered to your party size
• have fun!

Overall, the kids had a blast!  If you're looking for a place to tire your kids out, this is it!  With 42,000 square feet of trampolines and activities, including 3D dodgeball, zero gravity basketball, half pipe and a huge foam pit, there's definitely something for everyone (adults included!).

 

After the party, we headed over to the Dragon Boat Festival in False Creek to hang out with the family.  Then, we were homebound so Jadon could finally open up his presents.  Ah, the life of an eight year old!

xo,

kristina

Creating Birthday Invitiations with Shutterfly

Before I decided on a theme for Jadon’s birthday party, I ended up creating birthday invitations via Shutterfly for him to hand out to his classmates.  I had already decided on the colour scheme and knew I wanted to do something with a vintage feel, and Shutterfly’s ‘One Awesome Ticket Birthday Invitation’ happened to be the perfect match!

Using Shutterfly to create the invitation was a breeze.  All I had to do was input the party details (date, time, venue and RSVP information) and Shutterfly automatically populated it into the invite! 

I also like to personalize my invites with a current photo of the birthday boy and a little note to the attendees about what to expect at the party:

The guest loved receiving the invites and their parents were equally impressed with them!  Mission accomplished!

Jadon's 5th Birthday: Paint Splatter Party at 4 Cats South Burnaby!

We recently celebrated Jadon’s 5th birthday {yes, FIFTH!!} at an amazing art studio in our neighbourhood, 4 Cats South Burnaby.  With a space boasting two art/paint splatter rooms and two separate seating areas, this 4 Cats location was perfect for a paint splatter party.  The open concept design allowed parents to sit around and mingle, and for my {somewhat extreme} party décor to be displayed.

To ensure the party ran smoothly, and that the kids felt comfortable, Pauline and Hilde helped greet the guests as they arrived and set them up for an afternoon of paint splattering, while I was busy setting up the party décor.  In fact, they pretty much ran the party and made our first 4 Cats birthday experience completely stress-free.

We had the chance to work with Hilde Romme, 4 Cats South Burnaby’s amazing in-house photographer.  She is amazing with kids and has a gentle way of making the kids feel extremely comfortable in front of the camera, which is exactly the reaction you want from kids when their pictures are being taken!  Hilde was able to capture a number of portrait shots along with some amazing candids and action shots:

Zoe's "Yoga in the Garden" Garden Party!

Last month we celebrated Zoe’s second birthday, if I may say, in style.  I decided earlier on that this year would be the year I would go a little crazy and style her party with as many details as I could possibly manage.

We hosted her party at Yoga Buttons, a local kid-friendly yoga studio in the heart of the Kitsilano neighbourhood of Vancouver, with approximately 25-30 of our closest friends and family.  The theme was “Yoga in the Garden”, or a garden party, with a white, gold, light pink and mint green colour scheme.  For some reason it took me a while to think of the colours, but thanks to a bulk tissue paper purchase at my local dollar store, I was able to take some of those colours and pair it with white and gold.  The result?  Absolute perfection!

The party had to be all about Zoe [of course!}, so I made sure it was known with the help of a few {giant} gold balloons:

And a number “2”, just in case anyone forgot how old she was turning {I kid!}:

Zoe’s birthday banner and paper fan backdrop were both handmade by yours truly. I wanted everything to match the party’s colour scheme and I really just enjoyed getting crafty. The paper fan backdrop was actually meant for the dessert table but I think it worked a lot better here:

We had a snack station set up for all of the guests with a few nibbles and bites:

I scored an amazing deal on the plastic drink bottles {they’re actually spice bottles!} from our local dollar store and paired them with these gorgeous light pink and gold striped straws:

The tassel balloon and tassel garland {both made with love by me} truly complimented the snack station:

My favourite part of the party was the dessert table set-up.  As soon as guests walked into the studio, they were greeted by this table and I may have gotten a few compliments here and there!

It's a YogaButtons Birthday Party {Review}!

It’s no secret that I love parties.  I love the preparation and I also love throwing them.  So when it comes time to find a venue for my kids’ birthday parties, I always make sure I search for something that’s unique and age appropriate for the kids, and also fun for the adults.

When I came across YogaButtons at their one year anniversary party last year, I knew it would be a perfect spot to have Zoe’s second birthday.  I contacted the owner, Carolyn Lundie, and we instantly hit it off!

Carolyn was, unfortunately, away on an Italian getaway {lucky girl!} on the day of Zoe's party but she definitely left us in good hands with Jen and Anita, both of who did everything they could to ensure the party ran smoothly and without a hitch.

When I was corresponding with Carolyn about the party, I let her know that we were going to have a "garden party" and she assured me that they would have crafts ready to compliment our theme.  Sure enough they had a craft table filled with jewels and stickers to make cute little flowers, however, Jen's instinct was that the boys would respond better to a Lego workstation than making flowers.  She discretely asked me if it was okay {of course it was!} and off the boys went to play with Lego!  Best. Idea. Ever!

While the kids spent approximately 45 minutes on their crafts and Lego building, the adults mingled and helped out the younger ones.  I loved that YogaButtons had a big enough space to accommodate both the kids and parents, as we had a number of younger babies and kids attending that needed adult supervision.

I must admit that while I thought yoga was a cute and unique idea for a birthday party, I was a bit skeptical about how the yoga part was actually going  to work.  When you have kids ages 0-8 years old, you can't really expect that they will all stay still and listen.  Once again, the staff at YogaButtons proved me wrong and this happened:

Lil J's Vintage Superhero Fourth Birthday Party!

Now that the busy holiday season is behind us, I've had a chance to think about some of the posts that I've been putting off for a few weeks months!  Can you believe that I still haven't posted about Lil J's fourth birthday party that happened back in June?!

Since Lil J was {and still is} obsessed with superheroes, I decided to throw him a vintage superhero party at 6 Pack Beach - a local indoor beach complete with volleyball nets and unlimited toys for the kids.  I loved the uniqueness of the venue and the fact that we could let the kids {and adults!} roam wild without any worries.

For the party favours, I ended up getting a 10-minute sewing tutorial refresher from my amazing mother-in-law and went to work on a much loved, but forgotten, hobby.  Here's a sneak peek at the party prep:

The birthday boy and his handmade Batman cape!

Party favours

my dirty thirty + a beauty giveaway!

Over the past few months I'd been in complete denial.  A milestone birthday was looming over my head and I wanted nothing to do with it.  Age and getting older usually doesn't bother me - I always tell myself to live by the saying 'You're only as old as you feel" - but this time I was kind of sad that I could no longer say I was in my 20's.  I felt that I would no longer be feel like the youngest in my group of friends.  I was also afraid that my metabolism would really spin out of control as soon as I hit 30 {that's the rumour anyways, isn't it?}.

As the big day got closer and closer, it started to bother me less and less.  I began to embrace being a year older and entering a new decade.  Sure, my 20's were fun but my 30's are going to be my most successful years ever.  That's what I keep telling myself.  I have big plans for the next few years and can only hope that they'll play out in my favour.  In the meantime, I planned to make a big deal out of my dirty thirty!

Since 30 is considered a milestone birthday, I figured why not go all out.  The day started out with a mani/pedi at a boutique Yaletown spa followed by an amazing experience at Bombay Brow Bar:

{Bombay Brow Bar}

From the minute I walked into Bombay Brow Bar, I could tell it would be a fabulous experience.  I loved the Indian inspired decor and Bollywood music videos playing on the flat screen tv.  And the staff at Bombay?  Well, lets just say they went above and beyond to make me feel comfortable through my first Bombay Brow Bar experience.

dear lil j: happy birthday, my four year old!

Dear Lil J,

Today Yesterday Four days ago you turned four. FOUR!!  Like, how could this be even remotely possible?  It seems like yesterday that I was meeting you for the first time, in awe of how little and real you were.  How I couldn't believe that I grew you for nine months and that you came out of me. And now you are mine! 

While that last part probably makes me sound like an overprotective, overbearing crazy mother {Daddy's the overprotective one. I'm probably the other two}, I just can't imagine life without you. I can't imagine not feeling the joy I feel every morning when I see your smile and feel your kisses on my cheeks. I wouldn't want to know how quiet the house would be without you stomping up and down the hallway screaming and laughing {as everyone here knows, your laugh is quite infectious}. And as much as I dread the bedtime routine some nights {and the way you love to fight it}, you always have a way of making me happy and making me feel guilty for feeling that way in the first place. Then I just wish you would wake up and cuddle with me just one more time. 

Your birthday was a little emotional for me this year. I kept reminding you all throughout the morning that you were still three until exactly 10:35am. There was no way you were going to be four before that.  Mommy just wasn't ready for it.

Melanie Dawn MUA Review + a $150 Belly Art Giveaway!

Birthday parties happen once a year {or twice or three times depending on how many kids are involved} and us moms parents love to put on a big production for the 2-3 hours that our kids are allowed to jump off walls, eat mounds of sweets and scream at the top of their lungs.  There are usually bouncy castles involved and various entertainers:  clowns, balloon twisters, stilt walkers and, of course, face painters!

Allow me to introduce the extremely talented and professional face & body artist, Melanie Dawn!  Melanie has been in the industry for 25 years and her experience is apparent through her many visual body art designs.  We first hired Melanie two years ago for Lil J's second birthday party after we saw her work at a friend's kid's party.  In fact, her work is so impressive, she was able to paint an Angry Bird free-hand {back when Angry Birds first launched} by just looking at a picture online:

Lil J's first face paint!

Pink Lemonade Party - Baby Z Turns One!

Over the weekend, we celebrated in a big way - Baby Z's first birthday party!  After weeks of careful planning, pinning, party preparations, baking and more baking, it was finally time for the big reveal:

The birthday banner was made out of sparkly pink cardstock I picked up at Michael's.  The idea originated from A Mommy in the City:  I decided on a font I liked, printed off the letters on regular printer paper and traced it onto the cardstock.  Next, I used a xacto knife to cut out the letters, punched holes in the top of each letter and strung pink ribbon through the letters.  It was time consuming but definitely worth it!

Baby Z's party theme was pink lemonade so, naturally, everything was pink and yellow:

Happy 1st Birthday Baby Z!

Dear Baby Z,

It's hard to believe that a year has gone by since I first held you in my arms.  I remember the exact moment the doctor put you on my chest and how surprised I was that you were a girl!  Your Daddy and I decided to wait until you were born to see if you were a boy or a girl and you were the best surprise I've had in a long time!  I will never forget the second I laid my eyes on you and saw absolute perfection - you face, your arms, your fingers and toes, and your tiny little body.  Sometimes I wish I could go back in time to experience it all over again and then I look at you now, and love the little person you've become.