Tuesday, June 29, 2021

RETURN OF THE GIANT WATERSLIDE | BIRTHDAY BASH 2021

Last week we finally got around to celebrating the boys' birthdays the right way. I threw this party together just days before and really didn't stress (much) at all. I did not bake a thing, I did not send out invitations 2 weeks in advance, there were no party favors. We just went old school pool party with the basics--pizza and sweets. We just upgraded the average slip-n-slide to this monstrosity. 😉

Not that you need a step-by-step process for how to throw your kid a birthday party but if you're curious as to how ours went down, here ya go.

HOW TO THROW A GREAT BIRTHDAY BASH FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL BOYS:


Step 1: Rent a giant waterslide.
We always use Clown Around Party Rental here in the Dallas area. They are awesome. 
Also...you can probably just stop at Step 1 if you wanted to. 😂





Hmmm...is it big enough? 😂

Step 2: Text friends and friends' moms with date and time.
Fancy invitations = unnecessary.


Step 3: Hit up the store for a box or two of chips in the variety pack and lots of ready-made sweets.
Candy, cookies, rice krispie treats...all excellent choices.
No baking required unless that's your jam. It is not mine.
Avoid chocolate candy. It will melt.

Sidenote: These food covers are AMAZING at keeping the bugs out! They fold flat for easy storage and they are super cheap.


Our friend Drew took full advantage of his mama not being around when the candy hit. 😂

(Thankfully his eyes were bigger than his stomach.)

Step 4: Ice chest full of bottled water.
Skip the sugary drinks. They'll have plenty of sugar. Puking at parties is not fun for anyone.

Step 5: Cheap pizza. Lots of it.
We got 8 large pizzas from Little Caesar's for 21 boys and 3 adults. It was just enough. 
Pepperoni was more popular than cheese, just FYI.





Step 6: If necessary, send the dog to doggy daycare for the day. 😉

Step 7: Sit back and enjoy the chaos.
Send a "Camp Director" into the mix for an added dose of fun. Can you spot ours? haha







The fun birthday balloons were the only decorations I bought. I picked them up at Walmart (you can find them HERE) and they were super easy to blow up and then hang on the string. No helium necessary. It took me a minute to figure out how to actually stick the straw that it comes with into the hole--you have to really punch it through and I was scared I was doing it wrong--but after that, easy.

Hey big teenager. Matthew is 13 and going into 8th grade.


Mason is 11 and will be in 6th grade.


I still don't know how these boys have aged so fast.

The boys' birthdays are actually in April and May but we always wait and celebrate after baseball season is over and school is out. We usually have the party earlier in June but Craig has been gone with football camps and baseball season ran later than normal because of rain delays. So finally I realized we needed to just do it.

I called the slide rental company on a Friday, we texted everyone that weekend (I pretty much left that up to the boys but did text the moms I knew), shopped for food on Sunday and we partied on Tuesday. The boys said they didn't want a cake or anything since we'd already done all that on their actual birthdays (and Matthew doesn't even like cake...give him all the cookies) so I didn't even have to worry about ordering one of those.

Fairly easy party planning!

We had to send Chuck to doggy daycare because he goes NUTS when there are kids over. He is like the pesky little brother trying to keep up with the big boys. We knew he'd run himself ragged with all those kids and would end up having a heat stroke or something so he missed the party. Definitely the right call though.

The next day was his 1 year Gotcha Day and what we are calling his birthday (since we don't actually know it) so he got pics in front of the birthday balloons as well. 😉


Freshly groomed and looking so handsome. We are saying he's 4 now but again...who knows.


We love our Charlie/Charlie Bear/Chuck/Chuckles/Chalsie/Chuck Chuck/Chuckleberry...who else calls their dog all sorts of random nicknames? 😂 It has been the best year with him and we are so thankful for him!

We ❤ Chuck.

And that's it, friends! Birthday party success!

This is our 4th or 5th year to do the giant waterslide/pool party and I have a feeling the tradition will continue for a LONG time to come.
 


SHARE:

5 comments

  1. So cute! Looks like the perfect party! We have a (girl) dog named Charlie and she has many of the same nicknames. Chuckle bug is another.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh Chuckle Bug is cute!! We may have to throw that in there! haha

      Delete
  2. You and Craig need to invite Andrew and me over for this slide. That's all I'm saying.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This could be a really fun adults only party! 😂

      Delete

I love hearing from you! Drop a comment below!

BLOGGER TEMPLATE CREATED BY pipdig