Seriously. I’m that kind of mom that is looking for any excuse to put together a goodie bag. HAHA. Picked up those felt Owl stickers 50% off after Halloween at Target last year + 50% the bags after Valentine’s Day + some clearance graduation tattoos and gift tags from Oriental trading + recycled Graduation bubble favors from my own graduation party over a decade ago…. Ta da!
For my daughter’s 5th birthday, we went for a “Disney” theme. It was good timing as she now has gone to Disneyland many times and familiar with all the stories and characters. Having a Disney theme was definitely due to come! Oh and I had so much planning this one! Let’s go over the details:
Centerpieces: I found lots of versions on Pinterest and went for a pretty simple one. Went into detail about it on the blog here.
I was able to find a HUGE lantern on Oriental Trading on clearance for $5. Didn’t realize how big it was until it arrived. But my dad was able to rig some ears to it out of a foam board, lots of tape, spray paint. It turned out pretty good. Could also be used for a Deadmau5 party for sure! 🙂
For the fruit display, my mom carved Mickey into a watermelon and also used cookie cutters to skewer some as well.
Cake: Again, we got our favorite marble and bavarian creme with fresh strawberries from Renaissance Bakery (Ranch Events Catering). Went for a simple Minnie Mouse patterned design with the ears and bow on top.
We had our usual photobooth set- up with template designed by Snapshots Photobooth. The kids and adults always love the photobooth.
For the goodie bags, I had one of my friends who is a passholder and lives in Anaheim, collect the “I’m celebrating” buttons for me for a couple months leading up to the party. So each bag got an authentic button from Disneyland. The girls got Minnie ear headbands that got for $1 a piece in the LA Fashion District, and the boys had gotten a Cars glider that I got for $1 a piece at Target’s after-Easter clearance. What else was in those bags…. crayons from Target’s after-Halloween sale, and little playing cards as well.
More on the pinata from previous blog post here. It was HUGE! $13 in Tijuana baby!
Lastly, I put several of the costumes myself and blogged about it here. All except for Mike from Monsters, Inc. – which was actually a children’s costume that I got on eBay for $17 and then sewed to a $3 t-shirt from Michaels. It was to match my son’s Sully costume which I got half off the day after Halloween at Target last year (always think ahead!)
What an expansive list! Kids love splash pads and this comes at just the right time. Soooo many new places to check out this summer!
SUMMER FUN: SPLASH PADS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Splish splash I was taking a bath! I mean taking my kids to our local splash pad for some fun!
Where else can you go on a beautiful summer day that is free on most occasions and refreshing?
This summer several communities across the southland have designated certain areas in their cities as cool down stations. Cool down stations are designed to help families ward off the heat when it reaches a certain temperature and becomes unmanagable. Your local splash pad is sometimes one of those stations.
According to Wikipedia, a splash pad is a recreation area, often in a public park for water play that has little or no standing water. This is said to eliminate the need for lifeguards or other supervision, as there is little risk of drowning.
However, I highly recommend that parents always keep a close eye on their childrenwhen playing at a splash pad. With all the water flowing it…
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My nanny recently starting making this stir-fry for the kids and they love it! We use all organic products and low-sodium soy sauce. mhmmm
I found these organic Udon noodles (they have other yummy Asian noodles as well, like Soba) on Amazon, so I usually buy a large box and have it stocked up in our pantry.
Boil and drain udon noodles.
Thaw and chop one cup of frozen broccoli
Shred one carrot
Thaw 1 cup of frozen chopped spinach
1/2 cup of diced tofu
Mince one clove of garlic. Heat 2 tablespoon of oil add garlic, cook until light brown then add all the veggies. Cook until the broccoli is tender. Add the noodles and mix. Add 1-2 tablespoon of low-sodium soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil. Add the tofu at the end, mix and serve.
Still using the same organic tofu from Trader Joes – you see it in most of my recipes on here! 🙂
This was a double batch made for a potluck. But the kids were loving it. For my little guy, I use scissors to cut up the long noodles a bit. Even as a finger food, the noodles and tofu bits would be fun!
mommyneurotic 