It was Jonah's turn to have a birthday party with his friends this year. When I asked him what he wanted to do for his party he answered, "Play soccer." I had to explain to him that not everybody likes soccer so we better think of something that everyone would enjoy. We came up with a soccer/swimming party.
We had the party at my grandmother's private neighborhood pool. It has a large grassy area where we could set up nets and play a game of soccer. Nobody is ever there, so it worked out perfectly. Jonah actually had his 6th birthday party here as well.
I loved planning this party, especially since it was right after Baron's very time-intensive party prep. Jonah just wanted to hang-out and have fun. He wanted good food to eat and just wanted to "chill". I did a super simple decor with black, white, and green. A few streamers, a few balloons, and a banner and we were set. We just grabbed pizza on our way to the party, had a few bags of chips, did frozen grapes on shish kebab sticks (huge hit!) and had powerade for drinks. Jonah isn't a huge fan of cake, so we had a donut cake instead.
Goody bags were simple as well. We had a soccer ball hackysack, soccer tats, and a treat. Bam, easy as that.
Pile O' Presents
The "Cake"
Besides being incredibly easy to plan and pull off, this ended up being one of my favorite parties I've ever thrown because everything was just so relaxed. Older kids are easier to direct and Andy and I had a blast playing with them all evening. We swam for awhile and then ate. Let me tell you, when you call out, "Time to eat!" it's amazing how quickly ten 10-year old boys come running.
Happy Birthday to you! (Again, I forgot the candles.... duh)
Birthday Boy
After eating, about half of the boys started up a barefoot soccer game. Andy and I went and played with them and it was so much fun. Almost all of the boys playing are on a competition team and they are good. It was a great game.
Birthday boy wanted to open gifts after that and so we did. Fun gifts.
We all hopped back in the pool for the remainder of the evening and played fun pool games like Categories, Sharks n Minnows, and breath-holding games. I didn't want to leave!
Oh, and Andy threw them around too.
We swam until it was dark and then we packed up and headed home to give the boys back to their parents. I need to remember how much fun this easy-going party was. Less stress, less to do, and just as much fun. A winning combination. Plus, the birthday boy had a blast. Nothing else matters, right?
Happy Birthday Party, Jonah!
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