Jackson's Beach Party!

For Jack's party this year we went with a beach party theme. His birthday is the closest to summer so I was hoping we'd get blessed with the sun! The morning of his birthday it was really cloudy, but the weather report said it was going to burn off and be sunny. Thankfully by noon it was starting too. I was worried for a bit since I had nothing else planned except nice relaxing beach things! 

I got this banner kit from Stampin' Up a while back. It was on clearance so I didn't pay much for it. I loved all the different designs in it. Plus it's really easy to take apart and use again another time. 

The morning of the party Michael worked really hard getting everything ready for the party. He got out the pool, aired it up, bleached it and then filled it up with as much hot water as he could and then filled it the rest with cold water. 

Earlier in the week Michael picked up 4 bags of sand so we had a fun area in the yard for the kids to play in the sand. 

As for food of course it was beach theme food. The punch was coconut pineapple punch. I love this stuff! 

For the centerpiece I used a tan towel and then put a bunch of beach toys on the "sand". 

The Sand Dollar Sandwiches were peanut butter and honey. 

The Starfish Sandwiches were peanut butter and nutella. Of course I didn't think about the fact that some of Jack's friends from school might have an allergy to peanut butter. His friend Cohen did so we made him his own special turkey sandwich. 

As for the adults we had Crab Sandwiches....they weren't filled with crab it was really a chicken salad, but I made them look like crabs. Of course I found this idea on Pinterest and I think they turned out cute. Plus they were yummy! 

  

The sand area was a big hit! I did have to remind the kids to not get too aggressive with the sand. I also came and picked up the edges of the tarp to move the sand back to the middle a couple of times. 

Jackson eating with his two classmates...Yasmin & Cohen! Just like Owen I let Jack invite 4 friends from school.

Jack got to go to Yasmin's party last month and he had such a fun time. 

The pool was a blast! All the kids except Caitlynn and Zeke were in the pool at one point! 

While the kids were outside playing most of the adults were inside chatting.

A few of us were outside soaking up the sun! 

Then it was time to move inside for dessert! 

We had Fish In The Sea....Blue Raspberry jello with gummy fish inside. Jack and Ella helped me make these. I was going to just set the fish on top, but Jack wanted them to swim. The fish didn't really taste good after sitting in the jello that long though. 

I also made Sand Cup....vanilla pudding layered between crushed up lemon cream cookies. 

Jack wanted a jello cup, but the candles wouldn't stand up so I had to put them in the pudding cups instead. We found out Jack's friend Cohen lives within walking distance of our house. I can't wait for the boys to get to play together this summer. 

Now for the guests...

Uncle Ry & Aunt Stephie 

After taking Uncle Ry and Aunt Stephie's picture I was just going to take a picture of Michael and Zeke, but then Michael asked Ryan to take our picture and then Pa decided to take one too! Imagine that a photo with the photographer! 

Jim and Norean! 

The Storer kids...Andrew, Caitlynn and Josiah! 

The Storer parents....Micah and Kim! 

Wayne and Caroline...Yasmin's parents! 

Cute dessert eater! 

After the kids were done playing outside they all came in to play with the toys inside. 

Zeke man wasn't really feeling good....he has a thing for not feeling good on party days. He was super crabby and took an early nap and then he was really clingy and we noticed a bit warm. By 8pm he was done so I put him to bed. At 8:45 when I put Owen and Jack to bed he hadn't even moved! As for his cute pajamas those were a late birthday present from Miss Erin. Of course the moment he saw them he had to put "Queen" on! 

Present time! 

The night of Jack's actual birthday Owen wanted to go out and buy Jack a present. He wanted to get him a remote control Dusty, but Target didn't have one...plus I'm pretty sure if they did he wouldn't have been able to afford it. Instead he got Jack this cool Dusty glider. 

Ga-Ga & Pa got Jack a Star Wars shirt and pajamas and then new Woody light up boots. The day before when Jack and I were at JCPenny's for his birthday pictures we wandered over to the shoes. I knew that Ga-Ga had already bought these boots, but I wanted to see if Jack would notice them. Well he certainly did and he wanted them so bad. I explained that we didn't have any money in our clothing budget right now so we couldn't get them. It was fun knowing that he was going to love these! 

The last thing that Ga-Ga & Pa got Jack was an old fashion Woody with a pull string on his back. He says over 50 things. Of course Jack was in heaven and had to sleep with Woody that night. 

Cohen got Jack a bunch of cool outdoor things...frisbee, water balloons and a slip and slide! 

Uncle Ry and Aunt Stephie got Jack a Spiderman hooded blanket, Spiderman action figure and this funny Spiderman ball. 

Yasmin got him these cool action figures....Jack could play with action figures all day long. He really is like his Uncle Ry! 

The other toys he got were a whole container full of water balloons from Miss Erin and her kids. An Usborne sticker book and active pack of things to do on our trip to Disneyland from The Storers. A weather tracking set from Jim and Norean and $10 from Aunt Becky. 

As for goodie bags for the kids they were actually goodie buckets. I got the buckets for $1 at Target and the Dollar Tree. Each child also got a squirt gun and a silly straw. I got the squirt guns at Target for $1.49 for a two pack and the straws were on clearance two for $1.79. So each goodie bucket cost me less than $3...not bad! 

And what else do you do after all the party guests have gone and you've just been given a silly straw.....

Yeah this really happened! 

Per Uncle Ry's request...here's Jackson in his awesome Spiderman blanket.

 As well as going to bed with Woody he also went to bed wearing this blanket. 

Before bed he did get to take his Dusty plane out for spin. I was sure this was going to be the first and last picture of this plane. Jack is not the most gentle child, but thankfully according to Daddy it's pretty sturdy. 

Thank you to all our friends and family for making Jackson's birthday so special!