Weston’s Bowling Birthday Party

Every November my sweet Munchkin turns another year older and I cry for like six days straight.  This past year he turned FIVE and I simply can not believe it.  I know I say this every year but seriously – how does time go so dang fast?!  He is just the most surprising boy…his balance of soft and tough are constantly surprising me.  He has such a tender heart and is one of those rough and tumble boys that can throw a mean punch.  I always try to describe the boys in their birthday post because they are growing and changing in so many ways.  Weston is my baby-and-animal lover, he likes brightly colored clothing, has a keen sense of humor, is naturally artistic, walks a fine line between extremely quiet and blazingly loud, gags on carrots and has the stormiest blue eyes.

In the past he has always been a true Daddy’s boy and really only wanted to cuddle Jeremy and have him soothe him, cuddle him and give him physical affection.  But in the last year or so, I’ve noticed a shift….slowly but surely he has let me do it too….which of course is THE BEST.  He even wrote this year at school that one of his favorite things is to have Mommy tickle him.  I can’t tell you how much that meant to me as his mommy….how my heart has just ached for him to love me back!  It’s funny – I know in my heart he loves me….that just because he doesn’t ask for my affection doesn’t mean he doesn’t want it.  I know that there are other Moms out there that are waiting for their little ones to be affectionate….apparently it takes five years but it SO worth the wait 🙂

ANYHOO!  This isn’t supposed to be about me…this is about my Weston and his birthday celebration!  Weston is obsessed with baseball and bowling.  Those are his JAM.  And for his birthday this past year he was super excited to invite two of his baseball teammates to his bowling birthday party.

The local bowling alley has a birthday package and an attached arcade so we did it at lunch time to not mess up our nap schedule 🙂

I realized that it is hard to wait for your turn to bowl when you are two so I ordered these monster scratch-offs for the kids to do back at the table.  I just got them on Oriental-Trading….which is one of my favorite places to get party supplies if I am doing a theme.  They didn’t have a bowling theme so we did monsters because Weston liked it most.

I got store-bought cupcakes (he requested green icing and sprinkles) and stuck the little monster picks in each one.  And yes, I brought my own serving plates to the bowling alley. ha!

This is Beau….one of his baseball buddies and has an older brother that is Will’s age.  They have been such fun play date friends for my big boys!  Weston actually had his first solo play date at Beau’s house and I was so proud of him!  He came home with all his adventures to tell me about – legos! Wii! football!

And this is Hagon.  I gotta tell you something…this kid is hilarious and adorable and we are gonna make him an honorary Bower brother because my boys are obsessed with him.  Instead of saying Cheese for photos….we tell the boys to say “Hagon!” because it makes them smile so big!  And if you ask Max who his favorite brother is….it’s Hagon every time 🙂

Jeremy rocked out the alley duties…his job was to help the kiddos with the bowling balls and taking turns while I did everything else.  I think I got the better end of the stick on party duties!

The bowling alley supplied a ‘helper’ and they were so great at making sure we had pizza and drinks and even made this hat for Weston’s special day!

This is my friend Jamie – she is a photographer and I was really glad she was there….one, because she is a baby whisperer 🙂

And two – because she can take great pictures in tricky lighting 🙂  ha!

After the bowling portion was done and the kids ate, the kids were given a play card for the arcade.  We told them they could win tickets to redeem for their goodie bags.

It was such an easy way to have fun and not worry about buying more goodies!  They all went home with bouncy balls and tattoos and candy, etc!  And I gotta give a shout-out to my mom for watching Ella the whole time while we did arcade fun!

On his real birthday, we also had a family party where Weston got his two requests – slime and a remote control truck 🙂

He liked the slime for the photo but in general decided that he wasn’t into it and gave it to Will.

And of course, Gramps and Grammy also made it down for a visit and spoiled the kid rotten!

In the end, I am so glad he enjoyed his birthday party….I mean, I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate him than with a thing he loves to do.  I can’t imagine what it will be next time….I’m sure it will be just as fun as he is!