Anthony Turns 5

It's amazing how fast 5 years go by. One minute you're watching your baby reach for a toy for the first time, the next minute you're getting him ready for kindergarten. I wanted Anthony's 5th birthday to be very special. In March he randomly asked me if his next birthday could be a Speed Racer party. Anthony has wanted to be a race car driver for 2 years now. He watches the 2008 Speed Racer movie all the time and I get him the old cartoon on Netflix sometimes too.


In July we sent out cute invitations that we made using the cricut. We invited the children to the Speed Racer Grand Prix and made the invite look like a flag. We fould little wooden race cars at Michael's and we bought checkered flag fabric to make some race day bunting. Natalie, Gabriela, Becky, and I made posters for the various activities. Some white star shaped balloons with red strings completed the look.


We made different areas for different activities- Pop's Garage was where the kids colored their race cars, Fuji was where the crazy wiggly sprinkler was, Casa Cristo was where the water balloon area was, and the Grand Prix was where they would race their cars. The only organized activity was coloring and racing, and after that the kids were free to jump on the trampoline or get wet as much as they wanted. The water balloons were a huge hit and even after the original pile was used they were filling up their own.


It was pretty crowded but I think everyone had a good time. We had delicious food, a yummy cake, and Anthony got some very nice gifts. I did have to keep it simple as we weren't discharged from the hospital until Tuesday and I lost 4 days of prep time, but it was a good excercise for me to let go of my perfectionism. I even got a store-bought cake! I realized the party would have to be scaled down but it was still fun. Kids have fun pretty easily without much fuss. That night when everyone had gone home and I was tucking Ant in, he told me that it was "the best party ever" and he thanked me. So sweet!