Kid Heaven

Cute kids on a firetruck

8/3/08
It is so refreshing to go to a totally fun kid heaven birthday party and not feel like you’re entering a spoiled child breeding ground that requires you to detox your kid after you get home. I’ve been to those parties. The ones where you get there and realize there was some popularity contest you didn’t want to enter that somehow got your kid invited. And since this particular child has a carnival themed, sugar coated, dripping with consumerism birthday party every year in the neighborhood park, when someone (or eventually your own kid) doesn’t get invited it’s going to be the 6 year old’s version of what we all hated about high school. Feelings will be hurt, the cool kids will rise to the top and the bratty little birthday princess will teach all the other children how to be pampered little terrors. All the parents sit around schmoozing (the one I’m still traumatized by even had margaritas and beer) while you try to keep your kid out of the fray and concoct excuses to get the heck out of there.

Running through the firehose, and under the rainbow too!

This was not like that. It was Ilona’s birthday and sort of a final hurrah before a lot of kids head off to public schools. Ilona is C’s favorite girl. She had a Darth Vader theme (can you guess why she’s the only girl C thinks is cool?) We had a heck of a good time at the Glenhaven Community Clubhouse on a little lake south of Lk Whatcom. The kids ran around on the playground and had a piñata. The birthday girl’s mom is a firefighter (how cool is that?) and some of her fellow firefighters brought an engine and let the kids squirt the hose. Then they had a water balloon fight and clobbered the birthday girl’s dad and all the fire fighters. And to top, it all off the kids and their families got to swim in the outdoor community pool.

This is the birthday girl's mom helping the kids handle the firehose.

Here would be the birthday girl's dad man-handling C who just loves getting thrown around in the pool.

An outdoor pool is such a treat around here! I think there are 3 of them in this county, one of which is at The Country Club (bleck!). So getting to swim out in the sunshine was so much fun for the kids, and the weather was fantastic. And of course, C slept all the way home (and for three hours after). With the big nap we got to stay up late playing and watching a movie. I am so glad he’s out of school this month so I can let him stay up late and know he’ll get naps and sleep in days with Gram and Pops. And I can just enjoy hanging out with him instead of stressing about getting him to bed on time.