The Highlander Family: Batman and Birthday Celebrations

We had decided a few years ago that we would have a party or parties for the boys every other year. This year was a joint party year so we planned to have a little celebration at home/school on their actual birthdays and then have one party the weekend in between.

For Colton's birthday we started the morning with balloons and presents and birthday chocolate chip pancakes which are a family favorite. Colton was over the moon for his new art set, Spider man sheets he's been asking for all year and........drum-roll.........a new swing set! The swing set was actually a gift for both boys so we wrapped it up and let them open it together. We got an awesome deal on this set and I picked it because it had the most levels on the tower portion (allowing for lots of fort play) and a rock wall which is good for my little climbers. As I sit writing this post I can see daddy slaving away outside on day 5 of assembly. They were NOT kidding when they said it takes two men 48 hours!! He's hoping to be done by Christmas day so fingers crossed!!

The joint party was a huge success and I'm so thankful for all of our friends and family who were able to join us, especially my grandpa who made the last minute decision to ride up with my cousin Kelly and be here for the party. The original plan was for the party to be outside in the backyard - we were planning to have the swing set done and set up our small bounce house and pretty much let all the kids run around. I had hoped to decorate our porch area and set up the food outside so that our superhero party stood apart from all of the Christmas decorations. Well...the weather had other plans. The Wednesday before the party the weather said 100% chance of rain. Um, what now? Well, thanks to some quick thinking by a friend we learned about Capes and Tiara's - a superhero/princess rental service for birthdays. Thankfully Batman (which Colton planned on dressing up as for his party) was still available.

I was a bit nervous - how would this work? Would he be good with kids? Would Teague (who was also a guest of honor) run in fear? Ultimately it ended up being perfect. Batman was awesome, both boys loved him and the superhero party definitely stood out from all the holiday decoration! The expression on Colton's face was priceless and watching him drag Batman over to meet his great grandpa was the highlight of the afternoon. Batman was even kind enough to play hide and seek with the kids and he enjoyed birthday cake with Colton. He stayed for a full hour playing games, helping make superhero masks and even performing a small superhero induction ceremony with each of the boys. I'm not sure we'll be able to top this year's party for quite some time!!