Our Boy is SEVEN!

My boy and me

(he is going to tower over me in no time...)

When life gives you lemons...throw an Angry Bird party!  I've been planning Scotty's party for over a month, so when hurricane force winds came through the night before the blessed event, a storm they call "Derecho" - basically a widespread tornado - we lost power and the use of our running water/flushing toilets and the entire pristine yard looked like, well, like a tornado came through, we did not let it stop us.  The sun still came out, the wind stopped and it was as if nothing had happened....except, we had about 30 people we had to entertain somehow with a questionable toilet situation, no power for the bounce house I had rented and no water for the slip n slide I had planned to have so that our party guests wouldn't pass out from the 90+ degree heat.  In spite of everything, though, the party was great.  I thought there'd be a chance people would just decide not to come at the last minute due to the storm damages, but to my surprise everyone we were expecting showed up.  Scotty got to see all his buddies and the sling shot Jay made kept them entertained.  Here are some pics from the day:

The Candy Buffet was a hit! 

Kept the menu simple: finger sandwiches, chips and some veggies

(PB&Js, Fluffer Nutters, Turkey & Cheese and Ham & Cheese) 

Ordered a plain white cake, got the Angry Birds figures online and Scotty helped me decorate it the way he saw fit. 

Another view of the Candy Buffet and Cake/Cupcake table

Party Central 

The Pig Hideout

(we collected boxes for a month and Scotty picked the paint for each structure in the game: wood, metal and ice) 

Angry Bird balls that I painted and the Slingshot that Jay built

(this kept the kids entertained) 

The Birthday Boy 

I lined the front of our yard with balloons and signs that I had made, and Scotty had colored, so people knew where to park 

Just one of the signs 

People either gathered around the porch where the food was, or... 

under the shaded tree on one side of the yard...or... 

under their own shade on the other side of the yard

Everyone was such a great sport, sticking around for the entire length of the party even though it was hot as heck

We had sidewalk chalk, hula hoops and baseballs & bats for the kids to play with

(our Coastie friends the Acosta's came to hangout)  

More gathering at the porch 

Cake time! 

Presents, lots of presents... 

Loved that some of the cupcakes had black frosting!

Scotty's friend Alex was the guinea pig... 

By the end of the day, the boys split up and some played the actual pigs in the structure, while the others shot the balls at them! 

Until kids started crying, and that was that... 

Finally a moment to sit down!

(note the apron: I cut the image out of a child's size shirt and sewed it onto an apron so I could be part of the Angry Bird team)

This party was a lot of fun to plan and I am glad most of my ideas/visions came to be.  With the help of Jay (a lot of help from Jay, with building the slingshot and keeping the yard nice), we pulled it off in the midst of crazy storm circumstances.  We are fortunate to have met these kids and parents through school and little league, they are a great group of folks and we couldn't be happier that Scotty associates with some of these boys, they are all good kids.  After the party, we went to dinner at a mexican restaurant with our friends, the Acosta's, because there was no way I was going to cook dinner after that long day!  Now, on to planning Zac's party....aye yie yie...