Eat Mor Chikn

I cannot believe that Aidan is now 5! Where has the time gone? Only yesterday, he was born a huge baby boy, causing me to push for 3 hours before he was delivered. Now, he's in Pre-K, playing baseball, and learning at leaps and bounds.

We had Aidan's 5th birthday party on Sat., Feb. 5 at CFA on Scenic Hwy. We had discussed what kind of party Aidan wanted, and though he initially wanted a CEC party, I did some research and discovered that CFA was highly rated for birthday parties and a bit more frugal than other places. In fact, it appears that each individual CFA determines what they will charge for birthday parties. Some places rival CEC or Monkey Joe's, while others simply charge for the kids' meals. I was happy with what CFA in Snellville gave me for my money. They told me they would set up a table for the kids with a tablecloth, provide a balloon for each child, let the kids order what they wanted in their meals, give them ice cream, and have the cow present. Nothing seemed simpler to me! We invited the entire Pre-K class, but I knew they wouldn't all show up.

On Friday, after 5.5 hours, I had made Aidan's Super Mario cake from scratch. We decided to blow up Aidan's Mario balloon on Saturday morning, and when we went to Party City, the balloon was deflated by the time we went to check out. They refilled it, and once again, the air escaped. I felt bad for Aidan, but there was nothing I could do--no place actually sells the Mario mylar balloons. I had ordered it online from Birthday Express. Chris got off of work early, and we went to CFA around 5:15, about 15 min. before his party. People trickled in--several people who had not RSVPed showed up, and I was glad, because I only had about a half dozen RSVPs. As luck would have it, it was also daddy/daughter date night, so there was a violinist and arch made of balloons, as well as black tableclothes and candles on each table. All of the kids began playing, and we ordered a small nugget tray for the adults to munch on. After all the kids arrived, we ordered their meals. Honestly, the children were amazingly quiet during dinner! We got them ice cream, and the cow came over to help sing to Aidan. He was beaming with excitement! Next, he opened those presents!! All of the kids were excited--Aidan got lots of fun toys! As the party wrapped up, I passed out goody bags to the kids (filled with pencils, pads of paper, Play-Doh, Smarties, fruit snacks, a crazy straw, and Mario candy). Aidan was walking on air that evening. Once we got home, he ripped into his new toys, and he, Katie, and Noah had a blast trying everything out. I heard some of the kids say Aidan's party was the best they had ever been to! Needless to say, fun was had by all, and we had some exhausted kids that evening!