Sunday, October 6, 2013

Jackson's American Flag Birthday Party!

MONTHS ago, Jackson and I started brainstorming birthday party themes.  He had all kinds of concoctions, but he kept mentioning a flag party.  I kept trying to steer him in a different direction, until I realized that that would be a really fun party to plan!
Dad and me.  We all managed some sort of red, white and blue combination for clothing :)
Happy baby!
Front of the house.  There were red, white and blue balloons, a flag garden flag, patriotic bunting, and a clothesline full of t-shirts for the kids to decorate with their handprint and stripes to make American flags!
Hallie lent me all of her Fourth of July decorations, and they were all perfect for the party!  I especially loved showcasing her amazing rag wreath she made this summer.  
Nan sent these cute Jackson confetti pieces as well as the cake decorations and special candles for the cake :)  Some of my favorite decorations are these two little patriotic ducks that I randomly found on clearance at Walmart just a couple of weeks ago--they were just meant to be for our party!
I made this clothespin wreath, and I can't wait to pull it out again next summer :)  It was a SUPER easy craft--here is one of the tutorials I used!
Along with the t-shirts each guest made, there were also these flag-themed pinwheels!  Also super easy to make :)
Mimi did a great job of decorating the door with these flags!
On our last run to Dollar Tree, Jackson and I were ecstatic to discover a whole endcap full of American flag themed decorations!  We picked up some cute baskets and a couple flag hangings that you can see hanging in the corner of the picture above on the deck.  I also went old school and made some red, white and blue paper chains.
Some of our first guests: Hallie and Violet and Susie and Ben
Love these guys!
Bampa took Graham to check out the balloons
After the kids all made their shirts, we played a couple of games.  First there was the ping pong ball on a spoon race.  
Then it was the dress-up relay.  This was a perfect time to raid the Halloween costume sections for some new dress-up accessories.  There were two teams, and each person on each team took a turn hurrying into the pile of costumes and then tagging the next teammate.  They all loved it!
Josh cooked an amazing selection of hotdogs and hamburgers in addition to other yummy food.  I'm so sad I didn't get a picture of the adorable red, white and blue Jello cups my mom made!  They were so cute and so yummy!  Then it was time for cake!  Oh, this cake...  There is a separate post coming about it...
LOVED celebrating our sweet boy!!!
Making a wish and blowing out the candles!
The inside of the cake!  Each slice looked like an American flag!
All of the finished high five American flag shirts!
Matching shirts :)
An impromptu game of football broke out after we cut the cake!  Josh had a blast too ;)
After-party: 2-9 year-old style :)

Jackson LOVED how his party turned out!  We all had such a wonderful time celebrating Jackson's birthday with a great group of friends AND FAMILY!  We were ecstatic that Mimi and Bampa were here to celebrate :)

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