Claire has officially been five years old for a few days now, but today it was time to celebrate with all her friends! With Claire’s birthday falling on the Monday after Thanksgiving, we opted to have the party the following weekend to try to get the biggest crowd for Claire. Although the initial response was low, in the end we had over 20 kids, mostly classmates, plus about as many parents, at the party. Plus all four of Claire’s grandparents were in town for the event. This gave the weekend a big, festive feel.

For the past few months, Claire had been communicating two key requests for her party. Her first request was to have the party specifically at Pump It Up!, her favorite bounce house, which had, among other amenities, a big colorful blow-up throne for the birthday girl to sit on. She had been dreaming of sitting on that throne for months. Claire also requested several times that we invite everyone from her class. Last year, in the wake of Molly’s birth and just moving to Austin, we had a small party with a few girls from her class. But this year, she wanted to make sure we invite everyone. Surely, anything less would be undemocratic! She really did not want to leave anyone out.

We scheduled the party for Saturday morning at 9:15, which was unconventionally early. But the party had a good vibe. The kids were fresh and rested. The parents were in good spirits too and were able to relax, socialize, and feast on coffee and bagels while the kids played.

The kids had a blast playing on the bounce houses, and then gathered for cupcakes and to sing Happy Birthday to Claire. Claire beamed on her throne. The only tense moment was when she had a little trouble sharing the throne with some eager friends, but she did relent and then had fun sharing the spotlight with her friends.

We went home and opened dozens of presents that day and next. Some highlights for Claire were various the Littlest Pet Shop and Polly Pocket sets, plus some real Annie shoes from Noni to go along with the outfit we had given her on her actual birthday. Many items went into storage to rediscover in the coming weeks and months. It’s a long time until another birthday!