Megan's Golden Birthday

Four on the Fourth.

I made a big stink this year because I turned 31 on the thirty-first and I thought that meant everyone should make a super big deal of my birthday! It was my "Golden Birthday" and that only happens once in your life, right!? So when I realized 2007 would also be the year of Megan's Golden birthday, I went a little crazy in in the celebration department.

The day started out with opening presents from Mom and Dad as soon as she woke up. She loved her rain boots and Dorothy shoes. As well as her new swimsuit and goggles. Then it was off to Grandma Janis' house for a special birthday breakfast with our cousins from Reedley. It was so fun to have Emily, Katie and Daniel here to join the party. And great to have my girls entertained while Matt and I worked all morning setting up the shindig.

My friends and family who know me well, know that I love to plan parties. I love to think of all the details, all the special touches. I know I take birthdays to the next level - or possibly a level that's way beyond the "next level"...but I have fun doing it. And my mom, while she wont admit it, is just as bad as me. She's very creative and enthusiastic. So when you get the two of us together on an idea, things rapidly get out of control. Which is pretty much what happened with Megan's Carnival Birthday Party. I had my mom, dad, brothers, sister, Grandma and husband working for the whole week prior....as well as working the game booths the day of. Expressions of their True Love for their daughter, granddaughter, great granddauther, and neice!

I came up with 6 different games the kids would play - winning prizes that went with the games at each booth. I embroidered each child's name onto the gift bag and filled it with a game card and pink carnival tickets. The game card had the name of each game on it and box for the kids to get checked off when they had played the game. My hope was that it would keep the kids moving thru the games and not get stuck playing just one. That way I wouldn't run out of prizes. I thought I would paint signs with the name of each game on them to hang on the booths - but then my mom and I decided to sew banners instead. We had fun finding different fabrics that went with the games and embellishing them. We sewed triangle pennants that hung around each booth and my mom also sewed a banner that read Megan's Carnival that we hung across the entrance. Everything was hot pink, turquoise, orange, lime green and purple. The balloons, the table cloths, the banners, and the pennants. When it all came together, it looked SO fun and festive. So now you can see the results of the past two weeks spent at my sewing machine instead at my laptop blogging!

There was Dinosaur Dig - where the kids dug thru sand to find little bumpy eggs that were filled with a plastic dinosaur and a number. The kids got to keep the egg and depending on the number, they also got to choose from assorted dinosaur prizes. Toys, stamps, stickers, pads of paper, and capsules that expand in water. I found a dinosaur bones set at Target that I buried in the sandbox and it looked really cool. I think the game was a hit with all the kids, but especially the boys.

And Flower Power - where the kids tossed little Ladybug bean bags into sand buckets that I had decorated to look like flowers. The kids won prizes of insect tattoos and erasers in the shapes of butterflies and bees.

Go Fish! was the classic carnival game of tossing a ping pong ball into little bowls of live goldfish. The kids got to take the real fish home at the end of the party (as long as it was okay with Mom & Dad) and also won prizes of goldfish crackers and a little pop up fish toy when they played the game.

At Duck Pond, kids picked a rubber duck from a wading pool of water and turned it over. Depending on the # on the bottom, they won either a duck necklace or a duck porcupine toy. Everyone got a ducky sticker for playing the game.

We also had a simple Ring Toss game where the kids won Ring Pops for prizes. Jewel ones for the girls and Sports Ball ones for the boys.

Finally, at Tin Can Alley, kids tossed soft rubber balls knocking down a pyramid of tin cans. Every kid won a Balloon racer car for playing.

We also had a face painting booth - where Grandma Janis worked all afternoon! My mom made the cutest mirror for the kids to look in when they were all done. And almost everyone got their faces painted. The sparkling glitter paint was a big hit with the girls.

I think all the games were a hit. And since most of the kids were 4 or younger, I was impressed at how well the kids really played them. I bought a CD called "100 Years Under the Big Top" and blasted Circus music all through the yard. We had lemonade, popcorn, cotton candy, hot dogs and cupcakes. My brother Charlie is quite the artist - and frosted the cupcakes to look like clowns! They turned out really cute. And as if the games weren't enough - we also had a face painting booth and a bouncy house that had clowns all over it. No one was bored or standing around at this birthday party.

Aunt Adrie and Uncle Andy surprised Megan with a new birthday outfit from their kids clothing store, CC Roo. It was a shirt that said "Little Miss Birthday" - like the book series by Roger Hargreaves and a tiered skirt that was TO DIE FOR! All her favorite colors and so girly. Megan absolutely loved it and looked so adorable.

And to make the day all that more special, Aunt Kate surprised us all and flew in late Friday night from Chicago so she could join in the fun! (Good thing, because I put her right to work!) Megan loves my sister Katherine so much and is always wanting her to come home and play. She had to take a red-eye home Sunday night - but lucky for us, she and Paul will be back in two weeks for my baby shower and GG's 80th!

Megan had so much fun that day. She is a special little girl who is loved by so many. Thank you to all my family - and Grandma Janis and Uncle TJ - who worked so hard and tirelessly to make her day special. I couldn't have done it without you.

Hope you enjoy the slide show - there are seriously over 100 pictures. I wanted to document all the fun we had - as well as all the hard work that went into it! It was worth it. If you want copies of any of them - click the link to the right that says "Burns Picture Albums" and you can order them thru Shutterfly. More pictures tomorrow of our fun times with cousins and Aunt Kate.

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