I’m baaaaaack!! :) It’s been way too long. Life has been crazy busy trying to balance it all. I’ll share all the updates about motherhood, breastfeeding, homeschooling in upcoming posts. For now, let’s talk about the joint birthday party we had for Mason (turned 6) and Katherine (turned 2) this past weekend.

Our family birthdays, except for baby Lucas’ birthday, falls in the summer. We’re pretty busy from July to September with back to back birthdays and with lots of family gatherings, cakes, food, and drinks. With Katherine and Mason’s birthdays being 2 weeks apart, I decided to throw a joint birthday this year. I’ll be honest, I was never a fan of joint birthday parties because I felt each kid needs to feel special and have a celebration just for them. But, I made sure that each child has his/her special way celebrating on the same day. Of course, I had separate cakes for them and we invited all their friends. All the kids ranging from two years old to 14 years old had a blast. It felt like they each had their own party on the same day at the same venue. So, it turned out perfect!

I fell in love with the venue when I first saw it and knew right away it was going to be the perfect location for the kids’ special day. The park had a big room that I rented out, they called it the multipurpose room, that had a kitchen, tables and chairs included, and the doors opening up to the playground. The adults enjoyed the cool indoors while the kids were running around having fun right in front of our eyes.

This was the first time I did not prepare anything food related. What a relief! :) I usually order sandwiches and pizzas and make all the salads and desserts. This time around, everything was ordered/purchased. All of the food was from Porto’s Bakery (who doesn’t love Porto’s), store bought desserts and Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

I figured we didn’t need too many activities or games since the park itself had a fun playground. I kept it to a minimum and had one table covered in Kraft paper (this right here) with some crayons for some art. We also took some hula hoops and balls from the house. Then, right outside on the concrete, I created a hopscotch game using yellow duct tape, and had two pinatas (this for the older kids, and this pull-string for the little ones).

Here is what I included in the pinatas. (Disclaimer: some pieces were small therefore I had told the parents beforehand to supervise their kids during the game)

As for the party favors, I ordered these really cute boxes that come flat and super easy to put together. I filled them up with non-candy items (with the exception of organic fruit snacks) and tied them up with a cute DIY thank you tags using my Silhouette Cameo.

I like including more educational toys and non-candy items in my parties because as a parent that’s what I’d like for my kids to receive and come home with. I get really irritated when we leave a party with goody bags filled with unhealthy candies, juices, and crackers (*sigh*). By the time we get to the car, the favors have already been opened before I could get to them and sort out what I don’t want them to have.

We had a great day surrounded by our favorite people celebrating my two oldest loves. I’m so glad I doubled up their birthdays and had one big party. We had so much fun.

xo, Salpie

A Joint Birthday Party