Polka Dot Picnic (Jade’s 4th Birthday Party)

Jade is a social gal plus we have lots of kids her age at church, so she invited 16 friends—from church, school, and our building—to her birthday party this year.  All between the ages of 3 and 5!  Of those, 11 actually came (along with some parents), so I definitely had to find a venue other than our small apartment to hold her birthday party.  I decided to go with a picnic theme at the Victoria Park Central Lawn.  I really wanted these kids who don’t have yards to get on the grass and run around together!

Well, you can plan everything but the weather!  I reserved the gym at the church, but was really, really hoping we wouldn’t have to use it.  Unfortunately, we did.  The rain came pouring down the morning of the party, so we opted to stay indoors.  Although I was super disappointed (not only is being outside more fun, but the park is definitely more beautiful than the gym!), the party still turned out really fun!  Two good things about the gym:  tables (the park doesn’t have nice gazebos like you would find in the States) and the kids were confined. 

As our young guests arrived, they each received a bottle of birthday bubbles. 

They were a big hit!  Though something I hadn’t thought of (mostly because we were planning to be on grass): slippery gym floors from all the bubble goo. 

    

The kids had their picnic snack box while we dry mopped the floors to prepare for games.

 

  

Like I said, I wanted the kids to have lots of fun running around, so we played yard games as opposed to the traditional birthday party games.  We started out with Duck, Duck, Goose.

 

After everyone had a turn, we moved on to Red Rover, Red Rover.    

At one point, we ended up with boys vs. girls.  The boys were a bit outnumbered and needed a little help from the dads.

   

Next up was Red Light, Green Light.  I love this picture.  So many happy faces. 

Then Four Corners.

 

Last we handed out “polka dots” to throw around and take home.

  

The kids loved the games and had so much fun running around together!  The gym was filled with lots of laughter and playing—exactly what I hoped for! 

Because we were planning for a party at the park, I needed something transportable and easy to hand out for the birthday cake (remember we were expecting to not have tables). Wouldn’t you know, my awesome SIL, Winter, gave me the Cake Pops cookbook for Christmas!  Perfect!  They, themselves, were far from perfect, but hey, it was my first time making them!  I wish I could say they at least tasted good, but…

Jade wanted strawberry cake for her birthday.  I’ve never made a strawberry cake from scratch (we can’t get that flavor of boxed mix here), so I just added flavoring to a yellow cake recipe.  Bad idea.  The cake balls did not taste good!  I’m determined to make them again sometime—with say, a really delicious chocolate cake recipe?  At least I wasn’t serving them to a bunch of food critics!

When we were buying supplies for the cake balls, Jade was so excited to spot a “4” candle just for her. 

   

  

Time for presents!  I think it is so funny how all the kids get so excited and huddle around very tightly to see the presents. 

 

Jade received lots of wonderful things.  We feel very blessed to have so many great friends here in Hong Kong!

 

We made sure each friend received a thank you hug after Jade opened a present!

 

Then everyone went home with a bag of goodies. 

Now that all is said and done, I have a little confession to make.  Jade wanted a princess party, but I’m a mean mom and wouldn’t give her one.  Frankly, because every little girl seems to have a princess party. After the party though, Jade couldn’t be happier and talked about her polka dot birthday for quite some time.  She really loved it!!  Moms always know best.  ;)

And because no post is complete without a picture of my boy, I’ll leave you with this one of him at the party!!