coop opted to go with a shark theme for his 7th birthday party. fitting since his birthday coincides shark week every year. i wish i could take some credit for how well this party came together but honestly, it was all coop. he planned the shark part over a year ago. in fact, he said he wanted a shark party when he turned 7 when he was not yet 4. this kid is a planner & he really sticks to his plan. so i guess i really shouldn't have been surprised when he came to me mid june saying he needed a paper to plan his party. he spent the rest of the afternoon organizing what activities he wanted to do, what he wanted the invitations to look like, what the party favors would be, who he would invite, where it would be, what we would eat, & what presents he wanted. then we got onto pinterest & his creative juices really started to flow. i had to veto a couple of extreme ideas (3-d shark attack cakes, pop up invitiations) for the sake of my own sanity but we were able to find things we could both agree on. yea, my 6 year old planned his entire birthday party. after that i basically followed his directions to help make his vision come to life. and according to him it was a total success. score!
his guest lists are steadily growing in number now that he has friends from school, the neighborhood, church, & sports. i limited him to a dozen friends & he had a hard time keeping to it. he came up with the ideas for the invites & signs & i designed them. he opted to have the party at kealia beach boardwalk (a great beach to have plenty of room for yourself but completely devoid of shade).
per coop's request we made rock candy (shark teeth), & red slime (blood), shark fins, & shark fact cards to pass out to his friends.
coop made a list of seven shark based party activities (seven activities for a seven year old's party-he's so attentive to details). there was a hold your breath under the water contest, a swim race, & a jump out of the water contest (coop won them all-it helps that he had time to practice). the main events were a shark tooth find featuring real shark teeth & a blood (ketchup) fight (don't get all hyped up. he isn't into gory or creepy things, in fact, the kid can't watch scooby doo without getting nightmares. he really just has a scientific way of looking at things & he understands that predators eat other animals & it's just the way it is. he accepts it & even admires the food chain).
we topped the day off with a pizza eating contest & hours of play in the ocean strutting their very own shark fins. i was a little nervous that we would jinx ourselves by celebrating shark style at a popular shark hang out but luckily there were no shark attacks while we were there.
i dragged my feet through the entire party process (i'm really not feeling the party vibe these days) & todd dropped the ball on his two responsibilities but it all came together without a single complaint from the guest of honor. it was rad having another opportunity to celebrate this amazing kid. he is so amazing & truly deserves the opportunity to spend the day as the center of attention, doing whatever he wants, & celebrating with his friends. every year i swear i am never throwing another party but somehow every year i get suckered into one "last". this year all my hard work was truly rewarded when cooper made me an extra special lego building. he said it was just for me because i did everything for his party & because i made him feel extra special. honestly, i throw the parties because i love seeing how happy my boys are at their parties. i've never once wanted any recognition for it. but this little act of love brought me to tears. i had no idea that he was aware of all that i do for him & it motivates me to do so much.
per coop's request we made rock candy (shark teeth), & red slime (blood), shark fins, & shark fact cards to pass out to his friends.
coop made a list of seven shark based party activities (seven activities for a seven year old's party-he's so attentive to details). there was a hold your breath under the water contest, a swim race, & a jump out of the water contest (coop won them all-it helps that he had time to practice). the main events were a shark tooth find featuring real shark teeth & a blood (ketchup) fight (don't get all hyped up. he isn't into gory or creepy things, in fact, the kid can't watch scooby doo without getting nightmares. he really just has a scientific way of looking at things & he understands that predators eat other animals & it's just the way it is. he accepts it & even admires the food chain).
i dragged my feet through the entire party process (i'm really not feeling the party vibe these days) & todd dropped the ball on his two responsibilities but it all came together without a single complaint from the guest of honor. it was rad having another opportunity to celebrate this amazing kid. he is so amazing & truly deserves the opportunity to spend the day as the center of attention, doing whatever he wants, & celebrating with his friends. every year i swear i am never throwing another party but somehow every year i get suckered into one "last". this year all my hard work was truly rewarded when cooper made me an extra special lego building. he said it was just for me because i did everything for his party & because i made him feel extra special. honestly, i throw the parties because i love seeing how happy my boys are at their parties. i've never once wanted any recognition for it. but this little act of love brought me to tears. i had no idea that he was aware of all that i do for him & it motivates me to do so much.
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