Tristan’s birthday

Hey, everyone. It’s Jo. If you’ve been reading our blog regularly, you probably know that we like to update you on our lives every once in a while. Since weddings are such big occasions, it’s good to get to know the people you’re trusting with capturing those memories.

So an update in my life: my son Tristan turned 4! It’s his golden birthday year, so I wanted to make the celebration extra special. (If you didn’t know, a golden birthday is when your birthday matches your age.) Plus, I love planning surprises for people–the bigger, the better, as long as I know they like ‘em! Kids’ birthday parties are a blast for me thanks to that. Children love surprises, and though it’s easy to get them excited, it’s tough to choose the perfect thing.

But I’m pretty sure I did it: a sleepover.

Not just any sleepover, though. Friday night came, and Tristan got to have friends over for pizza (what kid doesn’t love that?), but instead of the normal party pooping we parents do when it’s time to go home, the party got to go even longer than normal. After all the tomato sauce was cleaned off the kids’ faces and they were put into PJs, my mommy friends helped me get all of them to bed. It took a while. It’s tough enough to wrangle one kid, but five? The power of three helped. (Wait, not that one. The power of three moms. Not a television show. Sorry.)

A sleepover doesn’t sound like much of a surprise, though. Well, that wasn’t it! Don’t get ahead of yourselves. Geez.

Normally kids sneak around their sleeping parents, but we moms did the opposite. Once all the kids were settled in for the night, we got out the supplies and went to work. Soon enough, the hallway outside Tristan’s bedroom wasn’t just a hallway: it was a balloon pit! Nearly two HUNDRED balloons. It’s a good thing I was a band kid in high school–that lung capacity has been super helpful 😅

The kids woke up the next morning, and they opened the door, and BAM. BALLOONS. Everywhere. They definitely hadn’t been expecting it. Neither did Tristan’s friends that came a bit later on. All the kids had an amazing time playing with the balloons, running around, and… well, trashing my place. (I expected it. What else would happen at a sleepover like that?)

Balloons weren’t the only surprise, though. If you’ve ever met Tristan, you know he loves cars and robots. Transformers is basically his favorite thing ever. Bumblebee, especially. Thanks to the magic of Candies’ Characters (non-spon, promise!), Bumblebee made sure to make an appearance. Did you guys know he can make animal balloons? I guess those robot parts are good for photos and party crafts, not just fighting Decepticons. Who’d have thought? (He was nice enough to even stay for cake and presents. Sure, Transformers don’t eat cake, but they like to support their local children.)

As you can see, it was a great time for all the kids. There’s always a bit of a risk with sleepovers, like if one kid gets singled out or the group doesn’t get enough sleep or a whole host of other things. More often than not, they’re just fine, but with it being the first time, I was a little worried. Luckily, Tristan LOVED every last bit of it. He even liked cleaning up, which really surprised me. I remember friends telling me about the ten-second tidy from when I was growing up, but even if you’re not a parent, you’ve probably seen enough tantrums in the world to know it’s not always that easy. My secret was the balloons. Tristan’s job was to go around the house and pop every last one of them so he could throw them away, and he took to that like a fish to water. Or a bird to the sky. Or some other thing that fits really naturally. He loved it.

(I did too. Except for the popping sounds. Two hundred balloons, guys. It was worth it to see Tristan happy.)

I gotta say, though, as fun as this party was to put on, I think next year’s will be much smaller. There’s nothing like seeing the smile on your kid’s face when they know you did something special for them, but the flip side of a sleepover is the party hangover. I was feeling it for two or three days after! I love kids, but man, I needed a rest afterward.

What have you guys done for your kids’ birthdays? If you’re not a parent, do you have any special birthday memories to share? Share ‘em down below in the comments–I’d love to hear them.

Love,

Jo

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