Max’s birthday party was yesterday, and Oh, man, did we have a BLAST!
We went out to Green Acres for tubing and pizza (we’d gone out late last year for a fun day)
The place was SWAMPED with folks – everyone had the same idea – and we had a lot of kids in our group. I did not tube this time, I was doing more overseeing. Gerry shot some film – if it came out and I can edit it, I’ll post it soon!
It was the BEST idea we ever had for a party. All I had to do was pick up the cake, send out the invites, drive a couple of kids there and back and sort of oversee – no mess at the house (and we invited siblings to come, too! It was a long drive out there for a family just for ONE kid!)
The day was perfect – warmish weather in the high 30’s (California, stop laughing at us!) I cannot believe how we lucked out! Had this party happened last week, we would have been in trouble (it was 14 below – wind chill in the negative 30’s!)
Hannah has had a lot of outdoor parties at amusement parks and zoos, but this was Max’s FIRST outdoor party. How odd that we’d move to Minnesota and Max would finally get an outdoor party for his 10th birthday…
When it was time to sing “Happy Birthday” EVERYONE in the place, maybe 150 people, sang out loud – and Max was GLOWING!
I was able to use the gift certificate I won at Max’s school auction for an Izzy’s cake (our bid was $16 and I added $7 to it to cover a larger cake – the cake would have cost $37! Zow!) So overall it was pretty economical, too!
It was so much fun for the WHOLE family and a great way to payback some of the kindness of local families who have watched the kids in a pinch for us this past year…
The best part was that one of the dads is an ER doc, so we felt covered in case of any mishap (there were none to speak off – few bumps, but nothing serious. Yay!)
At the party one of the moms pulled out her knitting, and I showed another mom the knit stitch (actually, refreshed, she knew how to do it…) It would be fun to start a knitting group for the local moms – we could meet after we put our kids on the bus!
Later yesterday a friend came over to sit for Hannah and Max (her kids were at the party, so it was an extended playdate) and Gerry and I escaped to the Blue State Ball for a few hours. Gerry and I got to meet Stephanie Miller and Al Franken – a big deal for us.
I met a woman who had the most AMAZING tatoos & piercings. When she gave me her card later I realized why – she’s a piercing artist! (Yet another of the folks you probably wouldn’t meet at the Birch Society…) We were very tired, though, so we came home around 9:30.
And we are in love with the beauty of Minneapolis at night…