WOWWWWWW we had quite a weekend!
Because the rest of December is kind of . . .full already, we had not one but TWO birthday celebrations on Sunday.
Honestly it was kind of epic and I’m taking some credit because I did organize it all!!
On Saturday, Josh’s college BFF flew in to surprise him (I did reveal the surprise ~2 days before for logistic reasons) and they went to a Heat game together! This was special and I can tell they had a great time.
Then on Sunday around noon, we began with G’s birthday celebration – she’s turning 7 tomorrow!!! (Except she is very much still my baby, and I don’t recall feeling that way when the other two were 7, probably because there was an actual baby still around. For me there has definitely been something different about watching the last child grow up!)
As we did last year, we held the party in the gymnastics gym (same gym where A is on team and G takes classes). It’s so easy and the kids have tons of fun!
For privacy of her classmates I won’t share the group shot, but her party was great!! I knew almost all of the parents pretty well (partly related to being in a Montessori school where kids end up with the same classmates for years in a row!) and so it was really fun to catch up while the kids played.
For food we did bagels / breakfast pastries / coffee / juices / fruit, plus a DQ ice cream cake. Decor (well, it was low key, but something: plates, tablecloths, a paper banner) was Trolls as her request, and the party favor was Trolls Pez dispensers (lol). We had just enough food which in my opinion was slightly too little, but it was passable (platters were not 100% empty at the end, but close!). Notably in previous years I had overordered badly and was trying to avoid mountains of leftovers, but I guess I overcompensated! It worked out though I was sweating a bit as we got to the last slices of cake. Everyone who wanted it got some though!
THEN I dropped A off at a friend’s bday party (bowling!) and G opened her gifts; I sent thank you texts to everyone as she opened as is my custom! By ~4:00 pm I was nagging Josh to get ready for his own party (!), as we had to pick A up (north) and then drive to Miami Beach for the party (south).
We ended up at Byblos, a beautiful and delicious restaurant in South Beach at the Royal Palm hotel (owned many many years ago by Josh’s great grandfather, believe it or not — no longer any affiliation though!). So, the location had some meaning, plus Josh and I love the restaurant and had many memorable dates nights there when we lived closer. We had a party of 13: his parents, his sister/BIL/niece/nephew, his brother who flew from NY, and his BFF from Seattle, plus us 5, of course. It felt really special and like a PARTY! I felt like we really did 50 justice and he was super happy.
(For his bday, he will be going to the NCAA Final Four in San Antonio in April, plus I gave him a fancy wine tasting box!)
((And we will be celebrating one more time for good measure this weekend when we travel for the marathon!))
We got home after 11 pm which may have been not the world’s most responsible schedule for a Sunday night, but #worthit.
Few pix (not sure I can share whole table but some of us):
That is a WRAP and I was definitely tired yesterday but glad we were able to do both celebrations! 50 is BIG and 7 is exciting too. Onward + upward!
11 Comments
Happy birthdays! The final four gift is genius– Ben would LOVE this and he even has a March bday…
What a fun weekend of celebration! G looks so grown up! She looks more mature to me than Paul does even though they are months apart but it might be that girls sort of mature faster (surely she is more mature in general… whole lot of potty humor happening in our house these days…).
Josh’s celebration sounded perfect, too. As someone that decidedly does NOT LIKE SURPRISES I would have appreciated the heads up about a friend coming to town! And the final 4 gift is so amazing and will be an epic experience for him!!
I think it’s ok that the platters were almost empty. I know that feeling of kind of panicking about not having enough food, though!
Oh that’s such a lovely celebration for everyone!
T’s 5th birthday sparked panic as we had expected more parents to drop off, and everyone stayed for cake! I was cutting the slices extra skinny by the end for all these adults!
I turn 40 next week and am so not a party person (also, 3 days before Christmas…) so we’re spending two days in the city sans kiddo.
What an incredible birthday party celebration for your husband! Does he know he is the luckiest man ?! Kudos to you and the fam! Baby G’s very sweet. I guess the question that comes to mind after listening to your 2025 planner stack episode is when did you start planning your husband’s birthday? 6 months of a year before? Because it takes effort to synchronize everyone’s schedule especially with flights involved. Are you already planning his next one 🙂 ?
What a day! You are superwoman and a very good wife. The Final Four would also be my husband’s dream gift. That pic of G with the Trolls doll is beyond. Thank you for that 🙂 Love the dress choice for the 50th bday party and how well you and Josh coordinated!!! Good luck this weekend! What a week !
We used to have great parties for Dylan at the rock climbing place in Radnor. It was so low effort and the kids had a great time. Now all she wants are sleepovers, which are also relatively low effort but omg they can be exhausting (for me). I remember when I was in residency somehow organizing a 4yo birthday party for her at the Academy of Natural Sciences and it was so cute and awesome (the kids dressed up as spiders and looked at each other under the “microscope.”) But then the pizza never arrived and I got some weird comments from staff who apparently thought I was supposed to prepare some massive spread with elaborate decorations and healthy food offerings which honestly kind of ruined it for me. So now when I think back on it all I can remember is how inadequate a mother I am. Oh well… memories!
happy birthdays!!! it’s a lot of work to organize these celebrations but so worth it!
What a sweet post and photos! Happy Birthday to your hubby. I like how simple but memorable it was. (A great reminder for me.)
Wow, that was quite a day! Glad you’re in your marathon taper because you needed a lot of energy for that one. Both parties sound perfect, and it looks like everyone was happy. You definitely nailed the gifts as well. I’m excited for your extended celebration at the marathon this weekend!
Happy Birthday Josh! The thank you texts are also my go-to for kids, and no one has ever complained about not receiving a hand written note! My own personal genius move was hosting a holiday party and calling it a “sunset party” so it started at 4:30pm! We watched a beautiful sunset, had a couple of hours of darkness and starlight, and everyone was gone by 7:30!
Happy birthday to Josh and G! Hope you had a great time celebrating!