Collin's Birthday

Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Naaaa Batmaaaan!

That was the theme for Collin this year. He knew he'd be having a birthday party and for the better half of the past few months we have been talking non stop about this party being a Batman party. Since Coll's birthday falls at the end of July and we live in the land of never ending summer, we are pretty limited as to options for fun birthday parties where we live. Logically, a swim party would be the perfect solution to a mid summer celebration, but with a mostly under three age group on the guest list, that just seemed to be more stress than it was worth with all the worrying I would do over each kid's water safety. So the swim party idea was out. Instead, we did this year's party at The Little Gym. Collin and Grandma have had a standing once a week date day at Little Gym for the past year and a half, and Collin loves it, so it seemed fairly logical to throw an indoor party there and avoid the sweltering heat (and thank goodness, it was 112 that day!).

I have never done a party where I haven't been the person in charge of all of the work, but when you throw a party with Little Gym, they literally do every ounce of the work (set up, clean up, games, etc). It was fantastic! Weird, but fantastic. With all the free time I had not planning a birthday party....I made capes! Lots and lots of pint sized little bat capes that the kids could all wear around the Gym and then take home as party favors. 

(Unfortunately I didn't think to take pictures of them with an actual camera, so cell phone pictures it is!)

I even made a tiny cape for Tan Tan

I also made Coll a birthday blanket. (Again, never thought to take real pictures)

For Collin though, I ordered a special birthday cape....a cape that instantly transformed him into a wild- run-darting-down-the-hallways-on-the-way-to-a-rescue superhero the moment he would put it on! The cape arrived a few weeks before the party and although I had originally intended to make him wait to wear it until the day of the party, I ended up giving in and letting him play before his birthday. 

On party day, I let him wear the cape for most of the morning and he had all sorts of fun running through the house and around the yard playing Suuuuuuper-Collin.

Eventually I roped him back inside to take a few pictures before we left for the part Little Gym. (Uncle Burke, Drewski, Jenn and Baby Emmie, and Coll-monkey)

Try as I might to get Drew to wear the Batman shirt that I had for him, so that he would match the rest of us, he wanted to wear Superman. This was the first year that Drew had a hard time sharing the lime-light with someone else and I think not wearing the batman shirt was his way to be different than all of us. Not a hill to die on, so that's what he wore.

He also insisted on having hair like the Clark Kent picture Nathan and Burke showed him...

...forehead curl included (he did at least wear the Bat cape I had made him).

Silly Super heros

After a million pictures at home, we were off for an hour and a half of climbing, hanging, running, kicking, jumping bat-cape wearing fun with friends at Little Gym.

Grandma, Aunt Karen, and GGMa

Birthday Boy got a free ride on the parachute...

...before everyone got a turn under the parachute

And after all the run-amok fun, it was cupcake time!

Since we did the batman theme in colors of the older batman cartoons, half the cupcakes had blue frosting, and half had yellow. I quickly learned that blue frosting was a mistake....blue teeth and green poop the next day. Never, ever again. (T.M.I.? Perhaps.)

The girls at Little Gym did such a great job, the kiddos had a blast!

Sunday was Collin's actual birthday. Since we had done majority of the celebrating the day before at his birthday party, we just had a family dinner at home on Coll's birthday night. He asked for a chocolate cake and wanted to play with his presents from the day before. We had saved our gifts and my sisters saved their gift for Sunday so he had something to open.

The girls gave Collin a reversible superhero cape and mask, so Sunday brought more Superhero fun. The capes are actually pretty cool. Ironman on one side, and Avengers on the other.

They also bought one for Drewski (Superman/Spiderman).

Jenn had made a card filled with Superhero stickers...

...which Collin quickly put to use. 

They had a good hour of running around the house chasing "bad guys" and saving the day before I asked them for a picture together....and this little gem is what I got. I feel like this picture summarized Drew's feelings on having to allow someone else the limelight on their birthday. Sort of a hard one to have to teach...you get one day all about you and at some other point during the year, it gets to be all about your sibling and you still need to be a good sport about it because you already had a day that was all about you. Tough concept, and for the most part Drew did great, but this picture totally summarized the struggle Drew had in sharing the limelight that day!

And at the end of the day, birthday cake!

Happy Birthday Coll-brother! We love you!