We had a great Saturday afternoon! The girls were exhausted from an early morning filled with fun (see earlier post), so they went down for their naps just after 1. They both woke up right at 3:00, and we needed to leave at 3:15 to go to Lily's party! We had Lily's party at The Little Gym which is where Lily has taken gymnastics classes, summer day camps and currently, dance classes. She loves it there! Lily's other three birthday parties have been at our home, and while they have been fun, we thought this would be a stress-free party, and thankfully, we were right. The Little Gym did an awesome job. Lily had a great time, and we have many wonderful memories from the party!
When we arrived, Tara, Morgan and Maria introduced themselves as the teachers for the day, and they did a fantastic job. They let the kids start playing while everyone arrived. Lily was so excited to see so many of her friends. My nieces and nephew came, and both Lily and Mia adore them. Lily was thrilled that her friends from school, Sierra and Ally, were able to come; it's so fun for me to see the friendships that Lily is making. Several of our friends and their kids came too, and Lily always has fun with them. Once everyone arrived, Tara got all the kids in a circle on the mat. She introduced herself and then had Lily sit on top of a big cushion. She then asked each child their name and favorite ice cream flavor. I was really impressed with her ability to remember all the kids' names; there were 15 in all. They went over the basic rules of the gym and then got ready to have fun.
They started out by giving each of the kids part of a pool noodle which became their dance partners. They had fun running, jumping, skipping and banging their noodles on the mat while fun, upbeat music was playing. It's always great to hear squeals and laughter coming from kids!
Then they put all the noodles up and let the kids have free reign for a few minutes. I think it's a great idea to give them some "downtime" from the structured play every so often; it seems to keep their attention better. They gave this free time between each activity, and the kids loved it.
Mia having fun while McKayla helped Zac across.
Hadley and Molly both liked the beam too.
William tried the rings while Vivian liked the low bar.
Parker enjoyed swinging with Zac and Hadley while Macey looked on.
Mia trying the bars then McKayla showing how its done.
Next, Tara and Morgan set up these two huge wedge-looking pieces of mat and told the kids they got to knock over and slide on the "cheese wedges." It made such a loud thud as the wedge would hit the mat which made them laugh really hard. The kids did a great job taking turns, and I think Mia enjoyed it the most. I wish you could have seen the look on her face when she got to knock it down!
After a little bit of free time, it was time for the inflatable track which is one of Lily's favorite activities at the gym. They have all the kids lie down on the flattened track and then flip the switch to have it blow up. The kids loved this little ride! Once it was inflated, they got to jump down, flip down, run down and scoot down the track. Inflatables are always a hit with this age group! After some time on the track, the kids lay down again and help it deflate; then they have fun stomping out the air bubbles inside.
After it was deflated, it was time for a little bit more free play.
Next up, the kids make a train and put their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them. Then as they sing Happy Birthday, their train walks over to the snack room stopping for some hand soap along the way. The gym provides juice for all the kids, but we brought the cake. Lily loves the new PBS show called "The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That," so we had our local bakery (McEntyre's which Lily loves to visit) make a Cat in the Hat cake; it turned out great, and Lily was so excited about it. Everyone sang and then Lily asked me to blow out the candles; she said she doesn't know how to blow out candles yet, but I think nervousness played a bigger role since she does a great job blowing bubbles. Anyway, all the kids and adults enjoyed cake and a few minutes of rest.
After cake it was time to go back out to the gym for one last activity - the big multi-color parachute. I remember loving these as a kid, and Lily seems to love them too. They pull them up, push them down and shake them all around; they all loved getting to hide under the parachute too. Lily's highlight came at the end when she sat in the middle of the parachute and everyone else gave her a ride as they turned it in a big circle. They finished this game up by throwing the parachute into the air to see if it would stick to the ceiling. Lastly, all the kids gathered in a small circle and laid down on the tummies. They did one last birthday song for Lily which included banging their hands and feet on the mat...always fun to make noise!
After this, everyone came out to put on socks and shoes and collect their party favor. We had small Dr. Suess books for each child and Little Gym had tied a balloon around each one. Then it was time to tell everyone goodbye and thank you.
We were so grateful that Meme and Granny were able to come see the fun!
I know Lily absolutely loved this party. She had a huge smile glued to her face the entire time. As she would run around, she would run past me with her arm out to give me a high-five. She had a blast! By far, this has been her best birthday party yet!
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