Bo's 4th Birthday

With Bo's imagination and love of dressing up, it was only fitting to celebrate his 4th birthday superhero style.

The invites were simple and quick with the help of my digital scrapbook software.
I didn't do a lot of decorating...I've learned in the past that decorating is lost on boys and a lot of work to put up and take down. Some bright colored plates and napkins, confetti and curling ribbon can do wonders. I sewed capes out of shiny bright blue fabric (I was able to get two capes out of one width of fabric) and used red ribbon at the neck for a tie. I cut masks out of black felt and straight stiched a matching mask out of red cotton to one side (so that the felt didn't stretch when worn and wasn't itchy to the face)
The party was fun to plan and ended up being a blast. I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted, I was too busy running around keeping up with the little superheroes! I had The Incredibles movie playing as kids arrived (a great way to keep them entertained, but mellow while everyone gets there). When all the kids were together I told them we were going to have a party to help them be the best superheros in the world! They would have to work really hard to perfect their superhero powers and ban together because there was a party villian out there that likes to come spoil birthday fun and we would need their superhero help to keep him away and save the party!

First, they did a superhero training course in the backyard.
They had to climb the ladder (like spiderman), fly down the slide (like batman),
jump over the building (a little garage for toy cars) in a single bound (like superman), lift "heavy" weights (like the Hulk),

bend under the bar (like elasti-girl), then race to the finish (like Dash). When the kids finished, they were awarded capes.

Then the "villian" (Bo's aunt) showed up all dressed up and dropped cryptonite (balls of foil - would have been even better if they were painted green, but oh well) all over the lawn. This was the only part of the party that didn't go so well - the boys loved it, but my 2 neices freaked out! They got so scared and I felt really bad. It actually took a little while to calm them down, but once everyone was ok, we told the kids that they had to hurry and pick up the cryptonite with tongs, being careful not to touch them and dispose of them in the hazardous waste bin (cooler). The kids got into this and we were cheering them along to hurry before the cryptonite took away their super power. When they were finished, they were awarded the masks.

The villian didn't come back in (we adapted after the panic episode and only showed the kids parts of the villian costume to explain that he had been back) but Aunt Haley showed the kids the villian's hat and the bag of fire balls (blown up balloons) that he had left. The kids were told they had to diffuse them by stomping them out! You can imagine they loved this.
When all the balloons were popped, we told the kids that they needed to go eat to keep their powers up. We went inside and the kids made their own "hero" sanwiches.
and cupcakes
Here are the superheroes after lunch. But not finished with ther suphero missions...the villian had returned (Aunt Haley showed the villian's coat) and hid all the presents. We told the kids they had to find the presents and save the party! They quickly found them under the desk in the den and we finished up with Bo opening gifts. Each child took home their cape and mask as well as a goodie bag (filled with a superhero color book, spiderman pencil, spiderman fruitsnacks, balloon and other treats). Everyone left with smiles and Bo was one happy birthday boy!

Birthday boy Bo with the "Party Villian" aka Aunt Haley. Thanks Haley for coming to help and making the party a success (even if I you did make the girls cry), I couldn't have done it without you!