cherry candies

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA9CO9LZDOorCPK7_pTPw8gsWEfnvD6YoNs31YlE7vriXgUNn2dXD64keMVviwJ2g82kZLTYYM3A32KJ8LYaR7OBPDGk-bojeBXMblty0TN-KMcWPWa18IvMGss9bdoR8Wutt1vy6MGoQ/s1600/IMG_6727.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA9CO9LZDOorCPK7_pTPw8gsWEfnvD6YoNs31YlE7vriXgUNn2dXD64keMVviwJ2g82kZLTYYM3A32KJ8LYaR7OBPDGk-bojeBXMblty0TN-KMcWPWa18IvMGss9bdoR8Wutt1vy6MGoQ/s1600/IMG_6727.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWG_6liGUem0NwRQqyqhz_imQVNoZ-KmniG_vJq1I6YItSOQrcRHMI_xlzltmwHilVHAkTce0cHOzo0BjHPkGyRzdPBchxazOWlXdu2jxk-ahkGKiGXpB86A23tWgh8QFjPs4JpbxWRs4/s1600/IMG_6681.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWG_6liGUem0NwRQqyqhz_imQVNoZ-KmniG_vJq1I6YItSOQrcRHMI_xlzltmwHilVHAkTce0cHOzo0BjHPkGyRzdPBchxazOWlXdu2jxk-ahkGKiGXpB86A23tWgh8QFjPs4JpbxWRs4/s1600/IMG_6681.jpg" /></a></div>A vintage milk bottle glass makes the perfect accessory to a party. (I found some at <a href="http://www.homesense.ca/en/index.asp" target="_blank">HomeSense</a>!) But do you want to see what makes it even cuter?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhchZL8ss77Y-jma_dMPEDnBfrpazsRecPtiEASPSKXApberg6KsKheVPhiD4Qw6YVwDpng73NyhVn05i1n7arIRvHpY_duJB8bQiksThTDclaKOUX92GxpDkS37frOLYmiY3CZtf1N89s/s1600/IMG_6748b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhchZL8ss77Y-jma_dMPEDnBfrpazsRecPtiEASPSKXApberg6KsKheVPhiD4Qw6YVwDpng73NyhVn05i1n7arIRvHpY_duJB8bQiksThTDclaKOUX92GxpDkS37frOLYmiY3CZtf1N89s/s1600/IMG_6748b.jpg" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"> Adding candy cherries! </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gSufUSBKH-qIqKHKQ3odbeb6w3w4cUrJ7agjBZ53mstBUH3RJmjw1L7cPdDcKdIbt74PulhYStZDfiiPOVZ3EY8ApUTKYrmstAA2NNlMNKidq89bWHWOzbpKkzA0AaPSmM88kjwOhu8/s1600/IMG_6739.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gSufUSBKH-qIqKHKQ3odbeb6w3w4cUrJ7agjBZ53mstBUH3RJmjw1L7cPdDcKdIbt74PulhYStZDfiiPOVZ3EY8ApUTKYrmstAA2NNlMNKidq89bWHWOzbpKkzA0AaPSmM88kjwOhu8/s1600/IMG_6739.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Just slice the cherries ever so slightly so that there is a slit between the two cherries, and place them on the rim of the glass. Wouldn't these be ridiculously cute at a party? That's all. Just some fun for you to start the week.<br /><br />xo Linds

cherry candies

A vintage milk bottle glass makes the perfect accessory to a party. (I found some at HomeSense !) But do you want to see what makes it even ...

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summer party loot bag idea

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCCREMYD5P9Wz06XC_dqdRmI-hexFPD0EHhXmhujn8jxTaSDjC0CqUntzO0p3Q2KqPyDe_9krxQmhJgYKciFk5Cpp4SbSfyCc3YnAYRB0s4Huj4IhxDy2giP2qXkMiMS5GmgMjhyphenhyphena6xk4/s1600/IMG_3977.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCCREMYD5P9Wz06XC_dqdRmI-hexFPD0EHhXmhujn8jxTaSDjC0CqUntzO0p3Q2KqPyDe_9krxQmhJgYKciFk5Cpp4SbSfyCc3YnAYRB0s4Huj4IhxDy2giP2qXkMiMS5GmgMjhyphenhyphena6xk4/s1600/IMG_3977.jpg" /></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0091/7252/files/candy.gif?3191" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilTDKudYRpMIDypRrYfd2b_Kho5R1FKz2FyX38HmmzOOgNzp0YP3tV_VS7bg2ErTAKRxytBn1AmrfRcMl6GGrhe7_57de1ibMtDOopKwTsTQqBbTQJm8rInNv61shSlLym-ihoKLeUm8k/s1600/IMG_4041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilTDKudYRpMIDypRrYfd2b_Kho5R1FKz2FyX38HmmzOOgNzp0YP3tV_VS7bg2ErTAKRxytBn1AmrfRcMl6GGrhe7_57de1ibMtDOopKwTsTQqBbTQJm8rInNv61shSlLym-ihoKLeUm8k/s1600/IMG_4041.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0091/7252/files/candy_good.gif?3193" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="500" src="http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0091/7252/files/candy_good.gif?3193" width="680" /></a></div>I can't take credit for this idea - my friend Julie did this loot bag for her son's birthday party last Summer and I thought it was GENIUS. <i>So genius</i> that I copied it for Oscar's birthday party this past Sunday. Shovels are from <a href="http://www.target.ca/en/" target="_blank">Target</a>, and candy is from <a href="http://www.bulkbarn.ca/en-ca/index.html" target="_blank">Bulk Barn</a>. Making these loot bags were a great deal of fun. I put everything we needed to make the bags on the floor, put the candies in their own bowls and Oscar helped make the loot bags - counting out exact worms and frogs for each shovel and helping me tie the ribbon. It was a fun activity to do together and we talked about how we'd be giving them to people to say thank you for coming to his party!

summer party loot bag idea

I can't take credit for this idea - my friend Julie did this loot bag for her son's birthday party last Summer and I thought it was ...

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hosting a neighbourhood party

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh01vEtivx1NQ4Jr4vYGuyqsGf37POcT1QXhZh_BmAlogbV-qYPTfNVwfLN6y5SW9g5hRo8L8jaNSjANZ7DTA-_xCWe6Ai4ilCrL1XCXOiU7sd0-sfDwA1vKhGWSammqEZuYPWJiz9LDes/s1600/photo+3+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh01vEtivx1NQ4Jr4vYGuyqsGf37POcT1QXhZh_BmAlogbV-qYPTfNVwfLN6y5SW9g5hRo8L8jaNSjANZ7DTA-_xCWe6Ai4ilCrL1XCXOiU7sd0-sfDwA1vKhGWSammqEZuYPWJiz9LDes/s1600/photo+3+(1).jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="http://aubreyandlindsay.blogspot.ca/2011/08/weekend-family-street-party.html" target="_blank">Two years ago we hosted a street party</a> as a way to connect with other families. The event was a pretty great success. It helps build a sense of community for the little ones, and as a parent, you get to know other families around you.<br /><br />I had the best intentions to host it again last summer but life got in the way - I was feeling pretty burnt out, and we were in the middle of a kitchen reno - so the street party took a back seat. I decided to host it again this year - and it happened 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately this year, Mother Nature decided to throw us a curve ball and have torrential downpour at 4:01 in the afternoon (The BBQ was set to start at 4pm) which resulted in a flurry of texts to my phone of people asking if it was still going on, and phone calls to our house of neighbours wondering what to do. We said it was cancelled because it was actually thundering - but a few friends made their way over with food. I had thought the event was a bust but all of the sudden others started coming, and coming, and before I knew it our house was getting full and I started to freak. I hadn't prepared our inside of the house for a party (We had a new toilet in the box, in the middle of our dining room!) Thankfully the rain broke and we got everyone outdoors. The head count was lower than we originally planned for - but it was still an awesome event. <a href="http://aubreyandlindsay.blogspot.ca/2011/08/weekend-family-street-party.html" target="_blank">Many of the tips are the same as the previous event </a>but here are my thoughts this time around... More after the jump!<br /><br /><a name="more"></a><br /><br /><b>1. Keep the invite list specific </b><br />We invited families on our street with kids. Although we know many lovely couples on the street with older kids to keep numbers manageable (so we thought) we kept it to those with little ones. Hand off the responsibility to some kids to invite people. It's a great way for them to feel a part of the event. Some girls n our street took charge and dropped off the invitations to houses on the street that they knew had families. Get people to e-mail you who is coming, the ages of the kids, and what food they will bring (see point #2)<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjhlaq2w_q9SOSusKkdf9FqdWTqZ3WlE0nJUBuNKImxDDcT70BJIxG223xv_cK77cnAeDzgWQsl1Zd1d5Rwr0m0xMwsDKuzZMsA8w0icRG63p5ltNN0QQGciT_vyMBgq0FG2D6DKxDhJA/s1600/photo+2+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjhlaq2w_q9SOSusKkdf9FqdWTqZ3WlE0nJUBuNKImxDDcT70BJIxG223xv_cK77cnAeDzgWQsl1Zd1d5Rwr0m0xMwsDKuzZMsA8w0icRG63p5ltNN0QQGciT_vyMBgq0FG2D6DKxDhJA/s1600/photo+2+(2).jpg" /></a></div><br /><b>2. Do a Pot luck</b><br />Get people to bring side dishes. We supplied the hot dogs - but everything else was brought by those attending. It helps with preparing the event, and the cost. It still works out to be a big investment on our end - as when we counted the number of people who were coming we were almost at 100 people. (Insert a minor freak out by us 2 days before the event) Ask people to put their address or family name on the bottom of their dishes. A lot of dishes end up being left at the event, so by getting people to write their name/address on the dish so you know where to return it.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd4ZbokdZwHx1cZx1oJsbbDYXPEeuckmUjpr7GdbrihT3FUo67IFlIoxMefxRcN0qqRdsF8HcysSZ-jOAMGADl843D945HZstze-FvhV3MBUkeo5yeXRpjhgpnMM9hHtjZae8TkRMhJbM/s1600/photo+1b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd4ZbokdZwHx1cZx1oJsbbDYXPEeuckmUjpr7GdbrihT3FUo67IFlIoxMefxRcN0qqRdsF8HcysSZ-jOAMGADl843D945HZstze-FvhV3MBUkeo5yeXRpjhgpnMM9hHtjZae8TkRMhJbM/s1600/photo+1b.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I carried 24 balloons home - Oscar thought I was pretty rad. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>3. Balloons.</b><br />Get balloons. Kids looooved the balloons.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8IlbRsyZf44XFMwbsOCxfcbiaEuNqRNlO5a0CY_j5DZ7oAqaWbrzRpj3ZmnKqMel43DzCm7yZkUeiVQkQcNQ-IZEdDhMwVj7MfBavbwG9iEmWGGIW6poVuHcrNVQhk6QuIcOluWmcVdw/s1600/f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8IlbRsyZf44XFMwbsOCxfcbiaEuNqRNlO5a0CY_j5DZ7oAqaWbrzRpj3ZmnKqMel43DzCm7yZkUeiVQkQcNQ-IZEdDhMwVj7MfBavbwG9iEmWGGIW6poVuHcrNVQhk6QuIcOluWmcVdw/s1600/f.jpg" /></a><b>4. Games + Prizes and activity booths</b><br />Next, we had games for the kids like bean bag toss, <a href="http://instagram.com/p/cIbjP9QsnU/" target="_blank">car races (cut a water woggle in half and race cars down)</a> Above is a picture of what I did at the cottage and I posted it to Instagram. I forgot to snap a picture at the party so the shot above gives you an idea.<a href="http://aubreyandlindsay.blogspot.ca/2013/06/oscars-3rd-birthday-party.html" target="_blank"> I got fun fair prizes from the dollar store, similar to that I bought for Oscar's BBQ.</a> Again, it was a huge success. The games were pretty loosey goosey so I was pretty much handing the prizes without the games. If I had more help, I may have had a better system but really, I just was handing out prizes to the kids. We also had a manicure bar - I had six whacky colour nail polish and everyone, including some Dads got in on the fun. Ask some parents for help - some got in on the fun and helped me give the little ones manicures.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_0cowjL1QOWoDFBlWt5ZZ6htRLtRvzTNmFsh0szMNSCzfhdCetQrvNi4SG4-lHS8PD6DjybHxhhMidllGbfzXJ0oa_4ow9GV3uG65YoSJMrFKaZp94SHH8uLLblWN4tf4GwD_6xAMNRY/s1600/photo+4h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_0cowjL1QOWoDFBlWt5ZZ6htRLtRvzTNmFsh0szMNSCzfhdCetQrvNi4SG4-lHS8PD6DjybHxhhMidllGbfzXJ0oa_4ow9GV3uG65YoSJMrFKaZp94SHH8uLLblWN4tf4GwD_6xAMNRY/s1600/photo+4h.jpg" /></a></div><br /><b>5. Reach out to local businesses</b><br />Our local <a href="http://www.mastermindtoys.com/" target="_blank">Mastermind Toys </a>donated a $50 gift certificate for one lucky family to win. When families arrived at the event, each family got one random number. I had a bowl full of numbers and half way through the event we drew a number. It was a nice treat for the families - I mean, $50 to spend at the coolest toy store in town? ;) Ps., I decided to do 1 number per family as it wouldn't be fair if one family had 4 kids, vs. another that had 1. A big thank you to <a href="http://www.mastermindtoys.com/" target="_blank">Mastermind </a>for supporting an event designed at bringing a neighbourhood together.<br /><br /><b>6. Have a rain plan </b><br />I didn't. Big mistake. Probably best to have a backup plan - one neighbour said that one street party said that if it rained, the rain date was the following day. And if it rained the followng day, it was just cancelled. I'm not sure what we could have done, but it was really hard to update that many people about the on-and-off status of the party.<br /><br /><b>7. Hire help</b><br />I got my brother to come down to be Oscar's buddy for the party. This allowed me host the event, and know that Oscar was being watched at all times. This was a HUGE help.<br /><br />In the end the party grew a lot from the previous one - had it not rained, and it had gone to plan we would have had over 100 people in our backyard. So on that note, I think it has grown to a point that we're handing off the event to be more of a street party vs. a family BBQ in our yard. The nice thing is,  I think people see the value in neighbourhood events, which was the intention all along. It will be fun to see how it changes next year with others organizing and more families involved. Anyhow, I hope my tips on what made ours a success, help you perhaps arrange one for your street.<br /><br />xo Linds<br /><br /><br /><br />

hosting a neighbourhood party

Two years ago we hosted a street party as a way to connect with other families. The event was a pretty great success. It helps build a sens...

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Oscar's 3rd Birthday Party

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqJ6W1FWcmISbw4qs-WNh0dcP0mEZlx5glvRKs5VYF5PNWkMLn_OWDyJ-dPPwFc6Z-O-7oS_dSHpueDDrBwwvZG7QKN_mRjVchhV03YR2BgUcvoHXRUhnePNtUrWAluxRQH5n1fNLLbO4/s1600/IMG_4022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqJ6W1FWcmISbw4qs-WNh0dcP0mEZlx5glvRKs5VYF5PNWkMLn_OWDyJ-dPPwFc6Z-O-7oS_dSHpueDDrBwwvZG7QKN_mRjVchhV03YR2BgUcvoHXRUhnePNtUrWAluxRQH5n1fNLLbO4/s1600/IMG_4022.jpg" /></a></div><br />We threw a BBQ for a small group of friends this past Saturday to celebrate Oscar's third birthday. I almost didn't throw the party as I was plagued with self doubt about what to do and overwhelmed with seeing really detailed parties online. I finally realized<i> I didn't have to do anything</i> - all Oscar wanted to do was play with his friends, and have some balloons. So I went with that.<br /><br />My Mom had given me some advice a few years ago with regards to setting up traditions with children. Although I forget her exact phraseology, the underlying advice was to be careful at what you do for an event, as you'll have to keep that up year after year with kids. I think the advice was originally was a reference to Christmas traditions (and Santa) but I've applied that same philosophy to other traditions over here.<br /><br />I decided to throw <i>a super low key BBQ</i>.  I think sometimes we all get intimidated because of the explosion of Pinterest and people show off these amazing parties - and the parties that are low key just get forgotten. Or maybe they aren't forgotten - they just aren't blogged about. ;) Read more after the jump.<br /><br /><a name="more"></a><br /><b>Invitations</b>: Although I own a <a href="http://www.pennypaperco.com/" target="_blank">stationery company</a> and believe that most events are worthy of a printed invitations in this case I knew that it was going to set the wrong tone for this party. I wanted it to be <i>REALLY low key</i>. So I sent out an e-mail to some of Oscar's closest friends (well, their Mom's) and invited them, and their entire family including siblings over for a "really low key birthday BBQ." I think I may have said "<i>really low key</i>" a few times in the e-mail. We had to keep the guest list pretty small considering we were inviting the entire family, so I kept it to Oscar's friends he sees weekly for play-dates and his friend that he has known since being born.<br /><br /><b>The party started at 4pm</b> - This was a perfect time because it was after naps, and pre-dinner. The perfect time for playtime, dinner, dessert, and then let the kids run around a lot to get them really tiered for bedtime. :) The kids played together, danced away to music on my brother's boombox and the parents got to hang out and have wine/beer ... everyone had a great time.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVMkzWn9br1XJQi1bNcZnqvKXLjZX3CPui47cfttEcKHz9egmv3DLFlxSJS9YlDf0E3IIFc98iOENQ7rgypwqL_kOZxOUssoN2ns-GTxlcRoQNpGPl3b9WzM10BVD6XHN9atXoM71wPRQ/s1600/prizes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVMkzWn9br1XJQi1bNcZnqvKXLjZX3CPui47cfttEcKHz9egmv3DLFlxSJS9YlDf0E3IIFc98iOENQ7rgypwqL_kOZxOUssoN2ns-GTxlcRoQNpGPl3b9WzM10BVD6XHN9atXoM71wPRQ/s1600/prizes.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Activities. Nothing was structured, things were just around the backyard for kids to do. But I did have some games that the kids could play and occasionally I'd come around with a bucket of prizes - As a kid <i>I looooooved prizes</i>. I picked up a few different sets of prizes from the dollar store and put them in a big glass container. Kids tossed beanbags into the bean bag game (shown above) and if you got one in, you got a prize. That bean bag game was from the Dollar Store (it was $20). It was a little hard to get the bags in but you could do the same game with pails/buckets. It was a huge hit as the kids wanted to collect all of the different prizes. The 3 year olds were less interested but the older siblings were having fun with this.<br /><br />For the rest of the activities I had nothing really planned. I figured the'd have fun in the sandbox, we had music going (Oscar looooves to dance) and the kids just played together. We did do a race, two kids at a time had to run and get through the streamer finish line - but right off the bat two kids collided and no one really got the "two kids only" rule so it was over pretty quickly. everyone got gold medals (also from the dollar store) and that was that. ;)<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr60CqFRT7MuoTa9cURvvNzqB6pYYf_ywdX_BBTVKiq-TKeAPxl9qBWeabS5tGsi_RucBQM-L-M1MHL6TFa8aIAsY-fPfHuuI_mHgoMzCzXzoUwo2e6FxQkah-WWAlODSKk8ET3pLLRyw/s1600/dessert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr60CqFRT7MuoTa9cURvvNzqB6pYYf_ywdX_BBTVKiq-TKeAPxl9qBWeabS5tGsi_RucBQM-L-M1MHL6TFa8aIAsY-fPfHuuI_mHgoMzCzXzoUwo2e6FxQkah-WWAlODSKk8ET3pLLRyw/s1600/dessert.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><b>Dessert </b>.... For dessert I didn't do cake for a few reasons. First I had some concern that with all the running around and activities, Oscar would freak out if everyone stopped what they were doing and sang to him. But the main reason for not doing cake is because Oscar doesn't really like cake. But he does go <i>bananas </i>for ice cream so I decided to do what he liked vs. what was traditional and make a really simple sundae bar for the kids. I went to the Bulk Barn and got cookies, gummy bears, smarties and sprinkles and let the kids make their own dessert. Success.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwbhz8V3RPNeXK6opozJeZF810Zcc3DFm_yBO4j42phy1UbSIrHu5S_57Xg6k9gti-Ma_zn2pCt5kWBFxpSl-JhYqIAaK8xGKN1IsQpOVIaweLxenlNIR8albQsSN14LZ3oXSmq44SPbg/s1600/favours.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwbhz8V3RPNeXK6opozJeZF810Zcc3DFm_yBO4j42phy1UbSIrHu5S_57Xg6k9gti-Ma_zn2pCt5kWBFxpSl-JhYqIAaK8xGKN1IsQpOVIaweLxenlNIR8albQsSN14LZ3oXSmq44SPbg/s1600/favours.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><b>Loot Bags:</b> I walked around a few stores over the week prior trying to come up with loot bag ideas. The price on loot bags was quickly adding up in my head. Plus all the stuff just seemed like it would be thrown out which made me feel like it was a waste, and an annoyance to the parents. Because I had bought some prizes for the games I figured that was enough for fun little goodies. But I wanted the kids to go home with something, so I decided to get each child a dinosaur toy that when you squeeze it, the mouth opens. It's hilariously cute and really inexpensive - Once all the kids got their dino at the end they were running around making them talk to one another and they ended up in the sandbox. :)<br /><br /><b>Presents </b>- I debated Oscar opening his gifts in front of everyone. I didn't know what was the new norm. When I was growing up we did open presents in front of the guests - that was part of the fun! It was funny timing that yesterday <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TodaysParent?hc_location=timeline" target="_blank">Today's Parent posted this exact question</a> (To, or not to open gifts at a party) on their facebook page. Do your kids open gifts? Oscar ended up opening them and all of the kids were great and I made sure Oscar said thank you to each guest after he opened a gift, and said thank you for coming, and for the gift as they left. I thought that was a good lesson to instill.<br /><br />Anyhow, that was our super low key birthday party for Oscar! :) The main thing was, he and his friends had fun playing together. At the end of the night Oscar was yelling "Hey guys! Wanna come into my house?!" which I thought was hilarious - he wanted the party to keep going. :)<br /><br /><i>*Ps., I'll try to get a better shot of the dino toy but you can see it lying in the sandbox in the photos above too. </i>

Oscar's 3rd Birthday Party

We threw a BBQ for a small group of friends this past Saturday to celebrate Oscar's third birthday. I almost didn't throw the party ...

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