Birthday maneuvers

Z's birthday is tomorrow, so we held his fourth birthday party yesterday - unbelievable that he's already four! Meh had the brilliant idea to inquire with his favorite kids' gymanstics location, and it turned out to be the perfect place for his party! Z and his young friends got to have a few semi-organized activities interspersed with crazy running around, swinging from rings and uneven bars, dancing to music, and of course an incredible Meh cake and cupcakes to wrap things up. Several of our grown up friends attended too, and reported it was as much fun to watch as to participate.

This year's party theme was airplanes, and Meh did so many wonderful and creative things with the theme, from goodie bags shaped like little travel parcels (complete with luggage tags) to custom Meh-made chocolate airplanes on sticks -- all assembled by herself, mima, and papa. And of course the birthday cake itself was shaped like Zachary's most favorite of planes from Thomas and Friends.

Z had a fabulous time, running around, swinging from the rings, bouncing on an air matt, walking a balance beam, getting sung happy birthday on a giant parachute, and getting rolled onto a matt (video below). The full picture set of the festivities can be here). He even actually picked up his cupcake (alas, only long enough to get frosting on his fingers and wipe them off in his hair) and was super happy when everyone sang him happy birthday. Even Owen had a blast on the parallel bars and many foam ramps. And the staff at the gym were incredible as well -- they took care of getting everything in and out of the car, set up, and cleaned up. It was extra special to wrap up the birthday party, get home to a clean house, and be able to just relax a bit before bath and bedtime.