Rylan's Birthday Party Details

We had Rylan's fourth birthday party 3 weeks ago.  Before I post about the actual party, I wanted to post all the decorations and details.

Rylan is a little obsessed with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles right now.  I'm not really sure why.  We occasionally watch the current Nickelodeon version on Hulu but I'm not even sure why he started requesting the show.

So Rylan's choice for a theme was Ninja Turtles.  Which is fine because you can't walk around Target without seeing something Ninja Turtles on every other end cap.  I never noticed until Rylan starting pointing it all out to me with a request to get it :)

I made Rylan's invitation this year.

The main party favor were these felt masks that I made.  Because I didn't invest in super sharp scissors, they were ridiculously hard to cut but I took my time and they looked great.  Next time though I will buy some better scissors!!!

I also included Ninja Turtle fruit snacks, stickers, and tattoos in the goody bags.

The bags were small green ones that I added Ninja Turtle masks and eyes to.

Indoor decorations:

As always, I made a banner to fit the theme.  It's a little hard to see in the picture, but each letter is mounted on a turtle shell with a picture of the Ninja Turtles between each word.  I also put up streamers using the colors of the Ninja Turtles' masks and green balloons.

Outdoor decorations:

I made Ninja Turtle heads out of paper lanterns and crepe paper.

We hung lots of green balloons in the screen porch.

I also found this plastic mural to hang up behind the outdoor table.

Most of our activities for the kids were a last minute scramble because we ended up with an 80% chance of rain on Rylan's birthday and had to cancel the inflatable waterslide we had rented.  And then it ended up not raining at all in the afternoon - but it was hot and humid!

The first activity was to make numchucks out of pipe insulation, curling ribbon, and duct tape.

The finished product ...

We also made several dozen white ninja balloons.  Inside of each were a few pieces of candy.  The kids got to fight the white ninjas and pop them to get the candy inside.  These took much longer to make than originally anticipated (especially when we were in a time crunch with just a couple of hours to go before the party)!

And third, we got a Ninja Turtle piñata.

We also set up a lot of our water toys outside to keep the kids cool (since it wasn't raining!!!).  We had a slip and slide, sprinklers, small pools, a water table, and lots of water guns.

I made cupcakes again this year.  I made toppers for each cupcake that had pictures of one or all the Ninja Turtles and some that said "Cowabunga Dude! Rylan is 4".

We had an "after-party" where we roasted hot dogs and made smores, but I also had some food for during the regular party.  We, of course, had Ninja Turtle napkins and green plates.

I gave each food a name to fit the theme.

Brian was nice enough to even make these for me the night before the party!

And then we had lots and lots and lots of drinks to help everyone stay hydrated!

I also made the thank you notes which I need to mail out tomorrow!

Next, I'll post some pictures from the party when everyone was here!!!

Rylan's Birthday

Rylan turned 4 back on June 28th.  I kept saying that either him or I wasn't going to make it to his fourth birthday but we somehow did!  He is difficult and I'll just leave it at that :)

Because his birthday fell on a Saturday, we had Rylan's birthday party on his actual birthday this year.  We didn't do much for him on his actual birthday other than get ready for the party.  However, the night before Brian and I decorated the kitchen for him.

Rylan's presents from us were also waiting for him on the kitchen table.  He mostly got a lot of things from my Target toy clearance stash.  I offered to him to get him a big present from us (like a motorized car) but he chose a party instead.

I also had to get Rylan some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles goodies.  That was also the theme of his birthday party.

Rylan was nice enough to let his brother help him open his gifts.

Happy birthday, Rylan!

Back Home

The boys and I just got back from a 10 day trip to North Carolina to see all the grandparents.  I have lots of pictures to post soon!

The Great Tennessee Air Show

On Father's Day weekend, we went to the Great Tennessee Air Show on Saturday.  Brian and I remember going to air shows when we were young and thought the boys would love it.

The show was to start at noon.  We factored in about 45 minutes of traffic to get into the airport and park.  We were way off - Smyrna police did a terrible job getting people into the airport (I think it would have been a lot quicker if they just weren't there at all).  Anyway, we finally arrived around 12:30 pm and were all a little worn out from "when are we going to be there???" and lots of whining from one child that is wearing me out lately (any guesses??? :) ).

The show was fine but I think Brian and I expected a little more.  The highlight was definitely the Blue Angels.  The boys didn't seem that into it at the show but for several days after it, I was constantly asked to print off pictures of jets so the boys could color them and cut them out.  So I think they definitely got more out of it than we realized at the actual show.

When we got there, we found a place to set up right away.  We had the double BOB for the boys and 2 folding chairs for us, as well as a picnic blanket.  Somehow it seemed like Rylan was always on my lap!  The temperature wasn't too high that day but there was no breeze and was just hot on the concrete.

We were about 10-15 yards from the fence and could see fine except for takeoffs when everyone in front of us stood up.

The beginning of the show was dominated by numerous small planes doing similar stunts.

Brian eventually took the boys for a walk to check out some of the other stuff at the show.  We saw this crazy truck on the runway a couple of times.  I'm not sure how fast it got that day, but it can go over 300 mph in a short distance.

The camera battery died so that was the only picture Brian took.  I believe they saw some planes, a tank, and maybe something else?

After watching a few more planes, I took the boys for their second walk with the main purpose of finding kettle corn.  We stopped by this small plane, and (with my spare battery) I took a picture of the boys inside of it.

The boys' favorite plane was Fat Albert.  Brian had seen this one advertised to be at the show and had told the boys about it before we got there.  I have no idea why it stuck with them.  Rylan even renamed it Fat Airplane (I think he actually just kept getting confused on the name).

Fat Albert is part of the Blue Angels and flew about an hour before they did.  It doesn't need much runway for takeoff and landing and was pretty impressive for a huge plane.

Rylan liked it :)

The Blue Angels were definitely the best part of the show.  Unfortunately they were also the last part of the show.  And by that time (4-ish, I think), Rylan was done (he really still needs a nap since he gets up so early).  We watched them perform for about 30 minutes, but we eventually put Rylan in the stroller and walked towards our car as we watched them (he passed out almost immediately in the stroller).  The Blue Angels finished up about 5 minutes after we got in our car.  The only advantage of this was that we beat out most of the traffic.  Plus their performance was probably 45 minutes so didn't miss much as we walked during the last part.

I didn't take many pictures and most of the ones I took were horrible (I was so hot and tired of fighting Rylan that it wasn't a priority).  Here are a few of the Blue Angels though.

Rylan transferred to the car and slept hard the whole way home (I love the arms straight down on both sides of him).

Fourth of July Fireworks

At the last minute, we decided to try the fireworks at Crockett Park in Brentwood this year.  We were planning on just viewing the Franklin ones that are set off from Harlinsdale Park and watch them from a distance (near BGA).

Brentwood has a band playing starting at 7 pm with the fireworks starting at 9 pm.  I know parking can be difficult though we weren't sure just how bad it would be.  We decided to park at the Brentwood YMCA and walk the greenway trail about 1.5 miles to Crockett.  We parked around 8 pm and put the boys in the double BOB.

Carter was very patriotic!

The boys loved the walk because the trail was littered with thousands of fireflies!

When we got to Crockett, we spread out our blankets just down the hill from the baseball field that is used to fire off the fireworks.  We had about 30 minutes to wait but we could listen to the band playing just a hundred yards away and the boys had fun running around.  I also had some glow sticks and necklaces which were a special treat.

The fireworks lasted just over 15 minutes.  They were good and very loud.  Rylan covered his ears a lot and laid on Brian.  However, when the finale started, he got really excited and loved the rapid booms.  He still says that was the best part.  Weird kid :)

When the fireworks were over, we loaded up the stroller and walked back to the car.  On our way to the fireworks, we didn't see many people at all on the trail.  On the way back, it was packed and took us awhile to walk behind all the people going slow.  Plus the people who'd ridden their bikes made it pretty hard, especially since it was completely dark and everyone was using flashlights.  But it was still better than dodging cars to get to ours in one of the parking lots and then sitting in traffic!

The boys passed out on the walk (it was super cool that night and I don't know how Rylan didn't freeze!).

The fireworks were great and the walk was good so I think we'll be doing the same thing again next year!

Miserable Kid

Too Much Swimming = Swimmer's Ear for Carter

Carter had complained that his ear hurt about once a day for the last several days.  He'd mention it and then not complain again all day.  Then he started complaining a lot more the last two days but a little Advil made it all better.  Finally this morning it was too much for Carter to handle so we finally took him to the doctor.  Unfortunately it is Sunday so we had to go to an urgent care clinic.

Most of the time I put Swimmer's Ear drops in the boys' ears after they swim but I do forget occasionally.  Poor kid is in a lot of pain, especially when the Advil wears off.  Hopefully the pain improves soon!  I have antibiotic drops to put in Carter's ears four times a day.