Eli's Batman Party for his THIRD birthday!

Eli's always been a super hero

     My son turned THREE on July 2nd! I was hoping to get away with one more year of making it no big deal, but my son wasn't having it. It's not like he's even been to a lot of birthday parties either! But this year, starting 3 months ago he mentioned having a Batman party for his birthday. What?? Where did this come from? He wasn't even 3 yet and he expected not only a party on his behalf, but a THEMED party! Wow. Well I didn't put a whole lot of stock into the notion the first time he mentioned it because toddlers change their minds every ½ second so I figured he'd just forget about it or change the theme. Nope. I'm pretty sure he referenced his Batman party every day up until THE day!

   I'll be honest here when I say I almost didn't want to even bother because I didn't want to have to be Pinterest worthy. Ha! Mommy guilt. Dang you Pinterest! If I wasn't going to go all out with the water bottle labels, and personalized cup cake liners, should I even bother? Then I came to my senses and realized hey, this is for a soon-to-be-3 year old. He could care LESS about labels he can't even read! He just wanted to play super hero! So that's what I focused on and kept all thoughts centered on what 1-3 ½ year olds would find enjoyable.

  Things like this:

Look at the size of that thing! It had a slide and basketball hoop

Shooting hoops with his buddy Parker

So much fun!

Warp speed, all the time!

And these:

All the kiddos got their own cape to wear and take home

It was like herding cats to get a pic of all the kiddos. I can't promise you that no tears were shed for this photo op :(

Can't forget one of these bad boys!

The main event at any toddler gathering: the water table, cue angels singing

Things started getting a little wild, & crazy when the mini people started disrobing and running through the sprinkler naked...

And to complete the look, some of these:

Batman Tattoos!

Eli LOVED them!

   I asked that people wear batman t-shirts or black (during a hot summer day, why not?) and my hubby and I wore our Batman shirts as well. 

I made mine using my cousin Beckie's Sillhoutte machine. I told Eli what it said and he broke out into the biggest grin. Worth. It. Speaking of the best cousin ever, I followed her Piñata tutorial to make this joker one:

It's a regular old paper bag, covered in ruffled streamers

collecting their loot

    I did heavy snacks instead of a meal because the party was from 2-5pm. Now heres a funny story to get the party started right. Just as people started to arrive, I was pulling the fruit, crackers, chips & salsa, and veggie tray out to set up on the counter. I proceed to peel back the cellophane cover off the veggie tray I picked up at Costco and I was immediately accosted by what can only be described as someone ripping a$$ an inch from my face. I grimaced and moved on. Mean while, Aldo (uncle Pibe) and my sister make a beeline to their son to check his diaper, positive he "sh&$ himself" (Uncle Pibe's words). Nope, smells divine like usual. What could that awful stench be??? Meanwhile, the great grandparents had just walked through the door and Uncle Pibe was certain it was they who, wasted no time "crop dusting" as they made their way around to greet people. Finally, you can see everyone is looking accusingly at everyone else, all the while silently pleading with their eyes to find the source and eliminate it as soon as possible. I speak up and say, "oh man, that broccoli on the veggie tray just stunk up the whole house!" I then heard a collective sigh of relief as everyone started speaking at once, sharing their theories as to the cause. Well then I lost it! (and I'm typing through belly laugh tears now). 

         "yeah! Jeeze, I checked my kids diaper multiple times then thought it      

           must be someone else's kid"--Concerned parent.

         "I thought it was the grandparents."---Annonymous (see above)

So I decided to put the tray outside on ice and burn a candle in the house, but then got similar looks from new guests arriving and had to start off my welcome greeting with "It's the veggie tray, sorry!"

The offending tray. Guilty as charged. Curse you broccoli!

 Sigh, good times. Overall I actually had a great time and Eli certainly had a blast. I'm just glad its all over. Now I get to sit back enjoy everybody else's toddler birthday parties this summer. Phew.

The guest of honor. Muuuah!

    Happy birthday my sweet boy! I love you more than you can ever know (well until YOU have kids anyway. Then you might begin to understand the depths of a parent's love) Muuuuuah! Hope this year is a great one full of lots of adventures.

   Stay tuned for his 3 year stats. He has his well visit with the doc tomorrow so I'll keep you posted.

Toodles,

Batman's mommy.