We had Megan's birthday party today at Brown's Gym in Altamonte, where the kids take weekly gymnastics classes. It was wonderful! Other than a small handful of older kids/cheerleaders doing a flip-flop workshop (handsprings and such), our group was the only group in the gym. I was initially concerned about the 90 minute time frame for birthday parties, but as I shopped around, I realized that was pretty much the norm.
Upon arriving this morning, I was given the option of the downstairs party room, or the upstairs party room. Both of which are great, but I chose the upstairs room because it was a big bigger (although a smidge warmer), and it was close to the parent observation room. The upstairs party room also doubles as the ballet and karate room.
Fairies, mushrooms, butterflies and flowers were the decorations Megan picked out.
Because 1230 is such a tough time for parties (do I feed my kids first or not?), we did include on the invite to please eat lunch first. However, I felt like a snack was necessary after all the playing in the gym, so we served up some cold red grapes. And sent everyone home with a snack for the road, since some of our guests had a very long ride ahead of them.
Warming up for some fun!
Stretching out their muscles.
Goofy kids, waiting for their turn to run the obstacle course.
The big in-floor trampoline is always a big hit with the kids during class.
Jumping down the long trampoline - clearly I need to invest in a camera with better action shots!!
Bradley getting some serious air with his jumping!
Anticipation building while waiting their turn so nicely.
Austin getting ready to dive into the foam block pit at the end of the trampoline.
These sweet girls just melt my heart.
Group picture on the gym floor. Such a fun crowd of kids. The coach said it was the best behaved group of kids she's had in a while. Yay!
They even put up a bouncy house for some fun! Oh my word, it was huge!
After an hour of playing, the kids were wiped out. They came upstairs to the party room, washed hands and sat down for grapes and water and got ready to sing Happy Birthday.
This has been a really challenging semester for me, time-management wise, and I knew I wouldn't have time to bake a cake this year, so we pre-ordered a Costco cake, and WOW - it was so yummy, and quite inexpensive!
Nine candles and one more for good luck!
Keith and Bruce snacking.
Grandma and Grandpa Holloway hanging out behind the kids.
Look at the joy on that face!
These three are a hoot together. There is one more girl in their little posse, but she couldn't make it today. They are all in the same classroom.
After gifts were opened, we gave everyone a hula-hoop to take home....and chaos ensued as you then had 15 kids trying to hula hoop. So funny!
It was a great birthday.
Things that made us want to do this again:
I got to spend time with our guests, and with Megan and not have to worry about anything.
The coach allowed me to take off my shoes and go out on the gym floor to take pictures.
It didn't matter what anyone's physical abilities were, every kid felt included.
I didn't have to clean my house before the party, or after the party!
Megan also got a cute shirt from the gym, that she can't wait to wear to school.
1 comment:
Birthday party in a gym, what a unique idea. Never seen anything like that before! The pictures look great. I might try something like that for my son’s birthday party next year. This year’s party was planned at my friend’s backyard (it’s quite big) but had to be shifted to a party venue as heavy rain had sort of ruined the yard.
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