Karter's 5th Birthday - Bowling Party

Karter’s “friends” party was a bowling party. It was the first time we had done something other than a home type party. Since Karter had taken a liking to bowling, we thought it would be fun to do and something that he could take part in. The bowling alley supplied the hot dog and drink and I brought a few snacks for the parents to munch on thek ids to enjoy before we ate and while they bowled in the first hour. I made Monkey cupcakes and I was pretty happy with how cute they looked.

Due to the nature of the party and the age of the kids, we asked that parents stayed to help out and thus included the older siblings. There were 17 kids in total, so we took up four lanes of bowling; two for the younger kids 2 for the older siblings. The kids really seemed to enjoy the bowling; especially the older kids. Some of the parents told me it was their child’s first time bowling – how fun! The younger kids enjoyed it, but it was hard for some of them to understand turn taking, so at times it was a bit chaotic and there were a few tears.

For Karter...well, let’s just say this was not his day, poor guy. He bowled one turn and was done. He was not happy in the surroundings, we think in the end he just got overwhelmed and over stimulated. The music was quite loud and there was a lot of chaos. Between Kurt and I, we tried to make him happy but nothing seemed to do the trick; he spent most of the party in our arms of lying on the bench.In the end, the hour and a half went by really quickly and was a bit of a gong show (smile). We fed the kids at different times, we never really ended up praying for the food (I think God will understand) and then in the end we just quickly sang “Happy Birthday” so Kurt could take Karter out to the van (where incidentally he calmed down immediately) while I tried to get the goodie bags handed out and the party wrapped up. It was totally frantic in the end and if you know me...well let’s just say I like things a bit more in control – hahaha! But as we like to say in our house “It is what it is!”

After it was all over, Kurt and I talked about it and really, all the kids had a good time and they celebrated Karter and that was what mattered. It was another reminder that we can plan and plan yet we have to flow with it when it does not go our way. So not a perfect party and not the way I envisioned it for Karter, but in the end, it was a celebration of Karter’s 5th birthday, with the people who are in his life and who care for him, so we have to say it was successful.Happy 5th birthday my boy! We love you so much.