Happy 4th Birthday Vincent – A Lego Themed Birthday Party
This year we decided to do a party at a venue – and since we had to use up a gift certificate sent by my sister for Vincent’s 2nd birthday (yes, two years ago… ) we decided MyMuseum was the place to go! It certainly put the pressure off me to think up of ideas to keep the kids entertained. We also picked a mid afternoon time slot so we didn’t have to worry about providing a meal – as we all know kids don’t eat anyway! I started to think of theme ideas by going off of the colors of the MyMuseum logo. They were going to provide the party favors, table cloth, and balloon centerpiece in red, blue and yellow. These colors could actually work with a variety of themes, buto of course we decided upon Lego because Vincent truly does love that movie, and the song / music video “Everything is Awesome”
The invitations were easy – all you need is a 1-inch punch! The text was designed after the lego box.
Here is the party room. I added the favor bags, and just stuck their favors inside of it, along with some other goodies (see later in this post). We could have had 15 children attend the party, but we only ended up with 7 i think. (We were expecting a couple more but they got stuck in traffic.) 15 would have been a bit crowded anyway.
I made this birthday sign to look like the lego logo. I also printed out the lego people on cardstock to place up on the walls.
Target had these cute lego banners — so perfect and no work for me!
Ikept the food simple but colorful. Fruit tray, veggies tray, cheese and crackers, rice krispy treats with added M&Ms to look like legos, chips, and candy popcorn. Jeff made a number 4 out of legos for a bit of decoration.
The museum made a sign for Vincent. There was another party at the same time but it wasn’t too crowded at all.
Pop-pop took care of Melanie while i was busy tending to the party. She seemed to have a great time.
Vincent was having a blast following all his friends around the museum. He was whizzing by and i hardly saw him for more than 2 seconds.
Vincent did come when we called for cake and presents! He didn’t eat much else though – this juice box, and 2 M&Ms is all i recall.
The base of this cake was madeby Nob Hill and we created chocolate legos from a mold i bought on Amazon. Plop Plop.
Everyone singing happy birthday to Vinny!
Took a few tries to get the candle to go out.
This kid had a fork, but then it dropped on the floor and no one picked it up for him so he dug right in with his bare hands. Miracously none got on his shirt. Tell me, at what age will this child be able to consume his birthday cake without making a mess? Taking bets now, comment below.
Little Vic made it to the party despite the traffic from San Jose!
Olivia and her mama. She’s eating her cake so nicely.
Alison and Ethon – Vinny’s right wing man. They were inseparable.
Charlotte eating her cake ever so delicately.
The punch box game! Each kid lined up to take a turn at punching the circle to reveal a lego figure. It took me a while to figure out how to make this because it required a perfect box. I ended up using the box that the popcorn came in (that of which i had to buy 50 cups of)
The waters were decorated too of course! Duct tape is all you need. And well, a sharpie to draw those faces.
The birthday boy’s daddy.No picture of me,but i had the perfect shirt on that i borrowed from a coworker that had holes in it that looked super-like a lego!
The favors had duplo legos, candy wrapped to look like a lego, candy popcorn, and a lego figure. The My Museum favor had a rubber duckie, hand stamp, sticker and bubbles.
I made these Thank You cards and made Vinny sign each one. He did a great job following instructions.
4th of July with Angie
It is safe to say its been years since i saw my friend/former co-worker Angie and her girls. We just simply lost touch! I would send her christmas cards every year though but it seemed she lived at a different address everytime! We finally managed to get together and had a great time catching up in Spreckles watching the parade (we stayed this time!) and then hung out at her house while the kids played together. A relaxing, chill, holiday. Weather was perfectly comfortable – not too hot or cold.
Best part about the parade (besides the fire trucks) is the free candy being thrown out!
Melanie was so cute with her little american flags. She kept walking up and down the sidewalk and i had to follow her making sure she stayed out of trouble. When i finally got a video of it, the stupid motorcycle dude revved his engine to purposely scare all the kids. But she was really loving the attention i think – everyone kept saying “oh, she’s so cute!”
Vinny and Emma hit it off great. I wasnt so sure because she’s 3 years older than him, but she liked being the “big sister” so to speak.
And Ellie is almost teenager! Melanie was intrigued by the remote control cars.
Angie loves animals so she always has some kind of pet to show us. Her lizard dude eats crickets and strawberries, among other things i’m sure. Vinny actually pet it!
Emma wrote all our names down in a big heart! <3
Melanie really wanted to have her turn riding the big wheel like her brother.
Doesn’t she look cute in her outfit – very spirited.
We lit off some fireworks after our hamburger dinner.
Melanie’s reaction to the fireworks.
After we got back from Angie’s house, i tried to take a “normal” photo of the kids. Yeah – didn’t get one. Vincent just likes to abuse his sister, and poor Melanie, she is so good at posing but she can’t when her brother is hitting her and jumping and acting all crazy.
Father’s Day and Diane’s Birthday – Same Day!
My birthday often falls on Father’s day – but i guess it hasn’t happened since we had kids, so it was a joint celebration. My mom and sister came up to visit, so i was looking forward to spending time with them. I took Friday off of work and went to Gilroy Gardens with them and the kids. It was a little busier than our last trip but certainly manageable.
I also got a sub for my Saturday class so we could spend more time together (my sister left on Sunday, so short trip for her). Ends up my sub double booked and so my class got cancelled! Haha! Oh well — we ended up going to The Farm to check out sing-along time and free hayrides. Plus my mom likes visiting the store with the produce and gifts. We got some veggies and fruits and a cute book that has animal sounds. Vincent loved the hayride and cow train. He was freaked out about the sing-along though — but Melanie seemed to enjoy it. The animals are always fun to look at.
Later on Saturday i ditched the kids with Jeff and went to Del Monte Mall with my sister and mom. We had lunch at CPK and my sister bought some workout clothes from my favorite store Lucy’s. I also bought some new sandals, and some clothes for the kids at Gymboree. Picked up cupcakes from Kara’s. Fathers Day we had dinner at the in-laws. Tried to get a family portrait and was… semi successful (see first pic) I bought the kids and Jeff a new Star Wars themed shirt!
I also got my haircut! (that is a once a year occurence)
VIDEO: Melanie Walking
Melanie is 15 1/2 months old. She just started walking! Jeff and I had a suspicion that she knew how to walk, she was just holding out on us! She’s been crawling for a while now, and also pushing her self up to standing pretty good. And well, this weekend, she decided it was time to get up and WALK. And she walked all around the house from the living room, through to the sunroom, and into the bedroom where Daddy was just getting up from bed. That’s quit an obstacle to navigate through for your first time on two legs!
Luckily i caught it all on video!
I remember our pediatrician being concerned about her “slow development” as far as rolling over, crawling, etc. But we were not worried about it all. She’s turned out to be fine! Silly doctors.
I just think it’s so funny to compare the two kids’ temperament/personalities and their walking development. Vincent was “balls to the wall” as far as going from crawling to cruising/walking phase. He had bruises, bumps, and cuts all over his face and body every day from trying to learn to walk. Whereas here is Melanie, calm as can be, always slowly and carefully pushing herself up to her feet. Only taking steps when she knows she is ready. I swear, she was a profesional walker after this video. You would have never known she just started walking a few days before!
Though i will note, i find i quite hilarious that she went to grab a stylus pen so she could walk all around the house with it. I guess there still is a little element of danger in her personality, just like her brother.
Aunt Julie and Cousin Amanda
More visitors from the East! Vincent and Melanie got to meet their Aunt Julie and Cousin Amanda. We all had a nice visit having dinner over at Pop-pop’s and walking to the park.
Vinny and Melanie got lots of new books! Nightime books Vinny like!
Gilroy Gardens – Melanie’s First Visit
Jeff and i decided to take a weekday off from work (while our childcare provider was also closed), so that we could take the kids to Gilroy Gardens on a non-weekend (i.e, not super busy!). We ended up buying season passes because when you purchased at full price it was included that day. We all had lots of fun since the ride lines were short and the weather was on the cooler side (it is usually blazing hot!) — it was actually overcast all day so we didn’t check out the new water park area. We had plenty to do anyway. Looking forward to another visit sometime this year.
Monster Truck Jam 2015
You know Vincent loves cars and trucks like your typical boy… right? Well every year there is a Monster Truck Jam in our town where the trucks come and do tricks and what not. We decided to get premium tickets to see the show. He was pretty excited to go. We dropped off Melanie at Pop-pop and Oma’s and headed over to the sports complex.
It didn’t really go as planned. First off, we should have figured it would be really LOUD! I was even scared! Ha! We lasted about 10 minutes into the show.
Vincent watched and clapped for the first one or two trucks, but then he just dug his head into Daddy and said he wanted to go home. He could have also been in a bad mood because he recently hurt his tooth for the second time. First he ran and fell into the tile floor in the kitchen, bleeding a bit. Then a week later (yesterday) he fell right into the coffee table at Pop-pop’s house and it bleed pretty bad that time. He took one bit of his pizza and then it was all down hill from there…
Since the Sport Complex is right next to the park, we decided to just take him there and run around. It was pretty funny because people who didnt want to pay for the show were all hanging out on the top structure trying to get a glimpse. I told Jeff we should have given our tickets to some of them!
Park Selfie!
After the truck jam, we headed to Sonic’s and had a frozen treat.
Mother’s Day – Chillin’
Had a chill Mother’s Day. I secretly hoped and prayed i could sleep in, or that someone would cook for me, or clean the house. Well one of my wishes came true. Guess! The first! Well ok, not really even that much, but sleeping in means no one bothering me before 8am, and by god the stars aligned and i didn’t have to wake up until 8:20 people!
Since i’m writing this post a lot later than it actually happened i can’t actually remember what else we did that day besides go for a little walk and then do a mini art project with the kids’ (fur baby too) hands.
Happy Boy’s Day
We have the Boy’s Day carp flag in our garage and Vinny always asks to play with it, but we tell him only once a year! So imagine how excited he was when today was the day!
Played in the yard for a bit too — Got some really precious pics of daddy and the kiddos.
Standing with dad’s help!
Melanie loves to give hugs!
A game of chase / hop on pop.
This girl loves her blankie. (Couldn’t get any headshots of Vincent or Jeff together… booo)
First Ever Apple Watch
I ordered mine at midnight so i got it on the release date! Yippee! So excited to find out how it work and figure out how it tracks my fitness!
First complaint however — it is kind of lacking the watch face options. Hoping more come to market.