Happy Birthday, Corbin!

Corbin turned 8 on November 3rd.  What a special age!  Corbin picked his favorite foods to eat and picked what presents he wanted me to give him.  He said I could surprise him with one gift, but he told me what that gift had to be. 

We didn't do a family activity because this is a party year for Corbin.  Corbin wanted an animal themed party.  As the kids arrived I had an animal foam craft on the table for them to do. 

I decided to do part of the party at Pratt's Pets.  They do free tours and are just down the street from our house.  Corbin invited a three friends to come to his party.  It had to be 3 because that is all I could fit in the van to take to the pet store.  The tour was neat.  The guide talked about the animals and let the kids hold a few. 

Then we came back to the house and had cupcakes and a snack and opened presents. 

After the boys checked out the presents we played a few games.  The first game was find the dog bones.  I cut out a bunch of dog bones and hid them around the back yard.  They had to find them like and easter egg hunt. 

For the next game I wrapped one of the party favors in layers of newspaper.  The kids sat in a circle and passed the present around.  They had to stop when the music stopped and whomever was holding it got to take of one layer of paper.  The favors were animals that grow when you put them in water.

Another game we played was pin the bill on the duck. 

The last game I prepared was a bean bag toss.  I layed out a few animal shaped plates and they had to try and toss the beanbag onto a certain animal to win the prize. 

I'm not a big fan of parties--they are so much work for me and I'm not very creative.  It's always a relief when they are over.  One of the difficulties with this party is that I was nervous about having boys.  It's easier for me to think of stuff girls would like to do.  I must have done OK, though, because Corbin had fun. 

Corbin also got to spend some time with his grandparents.  My mom and dad took Corbin and his cousin Dyson for the weekend.  They got to out to eat and birthday present shopping.  Corbin picked a pair of rollerblades as his present.  He's still a bit wobbly, but hopefully he'll get the hang of it soon.   





Lola likes to do something special for the kids when they turn 8.  For the girls she will buy their baptism dress and for the boys she will buy their scout uniform.  She took Corbin to the scout store to get his scout stuff and they also went to lunch.  Corbin was so excited to start scouts.  He's been looking forward to it since he was 6. 

Happy Birthday!