Summer Birthdays

This is the second year that we have celebrated all 3 of our kids' birthdays at once, in the summer. There are several reasons we do this, but mostly it is so our family doesn't have to come to our house 3 times in as many months, and we don't have to throw 6 separate parties in that same amount of time (1 friend and 1 family party for each). And I have to tell you, I am really liking it. We can do it up a little bigger, since we aren't spending all that money on separate food, decorations and cake, and it really has simplified our lives. It is also nice to be able to pick when to have the party, and not be tied down to a specific day. So what if our kids aren't born in the summer --that is when we celebrate!

This year we went with a castle theme. There is an amazing castle playground about 30 minutes away, and we decided to take advantage of it.

We rented a pavilion, and amazingly, the rain that has been falling all spring and early summer finally stopped and we had one of the first gorgeous weekends of the season. The family came and we had dinner, and then the kids decorated crowns with jewels.



I then organized a treasure hunt using clues that sent them throughout the playground and finally ended up in the "dungeon" where the treasure box was hidden. Each boy got a helmet and sword, and each girl got a sceptor/wand and a princess skirt. The kids were thrilled! We then sang happy birthday and everyone dug into the castle cake that Ed and I made.


We finished off with presents, and then the kids were free to play until the park closed at sunset. It was a lot of fun for everyone, and I don't have to do it again for a whole year!