A Super-Duper Birthday for a Super-Duper Kid!

Addison.  Sweet Addison.  Just had his birthday and is so proud to be 4!

Of course, he doesn't WAKE UP looking like this:  let's get the chronology straight, shall we?  THIS is how he wakes up on his birthday:

He went from this...

...to this, with just a tap of the shoulder!

Being super excited to have his first "friends" party this year

we invited 4 super friends over

for a Super-Hero in training party!

Max, Carter, Addison, Jared, Benny, Ollie, & Alana

 The strangest thing was that he was insistent that this was a boys-only party.  We've never had an issue about this before, he's never really cared, and he adores the girls we play with and that are in his preschool and primary, but for one reason or another, he just insisted that "for this, my FIRST PARTY, there will be only boys, and my next party can also be girls."  It was so strange, but it was HIS party!  (I'm so sorry, Moms!! Next year, he promised!)

Guests arrived at 3 and went straight to work.

Station One:  Design your Cape Emblem.

 

Printed on iron-on transfer paper, the kids colored in their emblem that said "Addison's Super Friends" using fabric markers.  Then, after ironing them onto the capes:

Voila!

 Unfortunately, the iron-on didn't work as well as we'd hoped -- and we even tested it out the night before.  I don't know why it didn't work.  Oh well.  But we were all happy in the end!  Yes, I sewed them all.  Yes, they are reversible red, blue, and gold.  Yes, So cool.

Station 2: Make Your Walkie-Talkie

 Using floral foam wrapped in tin foil, the kids decorated their "walkie-talkies" with gem stickers for the buttons and pipe cleaners for the antenna.  They LOVED this, too!  After they were done, they used them to play a rousing game of Dr. Good says...obeying what their super hero boss said, but not obeying what Dr. Bad says.

Station 3: Save the People!

Oh no!  There was a giant landslide and the town needs your super-hero help!  Save 2 people from the rubble (aka, colored rice).

Take them to the hospital to put bandaids on them, then put them in the ambulance to get better. 

Station 4:  Save the town!

This just in!  Dangerous animals have been injected with evil serum and it is OUR job to stop them from destroying the city!

 Perhaps it's a variation on a common bean-bag-toss theme, but it sure was fun to have them knock down at least 3 of the 5 animals lined up on the stairs.  And the kids were REALLY GREAT at cheering each other on.

Station 5 and 6 got overlooked on the photography side of things :(  But they did a Super Hero Freeze Dance and then kept their kryptonite (a green balloon) up in the air without letting it touch the ground until the song was all done.

And if you think THAT was fun, Station 7 was really the favorite.  One kid even tried to sneak one up his shirt to take home for later!

Station 7: Super Kicks and Punches

  I got Styrofoam trays from the grocery meat dept. 

And the kids punched and kicked them right through with all their super-hero strength!

Addison's super kick!

Yeah, Steve's not kidding here...Ollie gave it ALL HE GOT!  Way to go!

Max's super punch!

 "What was your favorite part of the party?"  EACH and EVERY kid mentioned this one!

A Super-Hero kid's DREAM!

Yes, try this at home.

And then of course, it's on to Cake and Presents time.

Quadruple chocolate cake deliciousness which means:

chocolate cake

with chocolate pudding

with chocolate chips

and double chocolate frosting

and no, that does not equal over kill...it equals amazingness!

And these sparkler candles add SO MUCH pizazz to the usual blow-out-the-candles routine!

I get them at Party City, but sometimes have to ask management to find them (like this time they were stored in the back, but yes they were for sale...hmmm...)

And to wrap it all up,

we finished off the party with our traditional

Parachute and Balloons act.

which eventually turns into a

Look at MY hair

 laughing fit, as in:

 and this:

And how come this party was Super cool and amazing?  Because my super cool husband,  Addison's super-dad, planned the whole thing!

He put me in charge of 3 tasks:  The cake, the capes, and "go-buy-all-these-materials-no-questions-asked."  Done.  What a man!  What a dad!  What a super-dude!

We loved having some of Addie's grandparents over for a birthday dinner (yummy strawberries and whipped cream waffles!)  They are all just SO positive and uplifting and make us ALL feel good about ourselves!  And they adore Addison, who absolutely adores them!

And to top it off, one more cake, at his request of chocolate chip cookies:  

A Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake.

Go BYU! The boy is a 4-yr-old Cougar fan!

Quick Addison Stats:

1. Is starting to learn to read by recognizing his letter sounds and sounding out the words, and can spot an "A for Addie!" a mile away
2. ADORES his family and brother Carter.  He is always sticking up for Carter, loving Carter, and wanting to be with no one else, but Carter, often saying simply, "Because he's my brother!"  No doubt they will stick by each other through and through.
3. Says the FUNNIEST things in normal life, and then we come to find out later that he's adopted it from some random episode of some random show he saw at some random time.  For Example:  "Wobble-Gobbles" are goggles (from Imagination Movers) and "You can't catch Koko!" he says EVERYTIME he's running or racing!  We thought it was so funny! Who's Koko!  (ah ha...months later we discover it's from Chuggington!)
4. Favorite food: Yogurt (have you SEEN this kid and yogurt?  I mean, really)
5. Other favorite food: Rice Krispies
6. His NOT so favorite food:  Snicker Bars ... I know, I can't believe it either.  But truly, they make him puke, without fail.
7. Favorite color (and word, apparently): Indigo
8. LOVES marbles! To collect, to roll, to play with, to look at, ANYTHING.  He LOVES them (Thanks Gma and Gpa for that present!  Loves them!)
9. He is great at puzzles and feels really successful when he does the big ones all by himself (big meaning, you know, relative for a 4-year old -- floor puzzles or 48 pieces, you know)
10. GREAT at sharing and being a peace maker when needed!