Day 106 - Happy 5th Birthday Dear Kian
/How is it October 6th already? More importantly, how is our little tiny baby boy who was born 3 days before his due date already 5 years old? I don't know, but what I do know is that we are so blessed to have this kind hearted, generous, patient, loving, and sweet boy in our lives.
If you have been reading our posts, you know that we are currently living in a rural house in one of the beautiful Andalucian villages/towns of Spain. There is only 1 decent size grocery store here, which doesn't quite have everything, so for specific items we need to drive about 30 minutes to a larger city. The point being, there are no party supply stores to be found, and in fact we didn't really see any party supplies in Torre Del Mar's shopping mall either.
Birthdays have and will always be a big deal in our house, regardless of where we are living. So we had to get creative with what we had. Also, thankfully, my parents were coming from the US to visit, so we asked them to bring a few things along to make the party more festive :)
Celebrating Kian's 5th Birthday in Andalucia
Theme: Turbo the Snail (from the movie Turbo)
Purchased Items for Decorations:
1. Balloons (from the small grocery store in town...that's the only festive thing they have :))
2. A "5" Birthday candle (Ok this was also from the grocery store in town)
3. Construction paper (bought from Barcelona)
4. Turbo Cake topper (rectangular) from Etsy (brought over by my parents)
5. Cake Mix and Icing (brought by my parents from NJ)
That's it!
Menu (as requested by the birthday boy):
1. Pasta (no sauce, with shredded cheese)
2. Cheese Pizza
3. Chicken
4. Salad (requested by Hannah!)
The night before and the morning surprise:
While the birthday boy slept, we sneaked into his room and put a few balloons in his window nook to surprise him. But he was also surprised by the Turbo shirt (bought on Etsy...I LOVE Etsy!) by my aunt, and a few in-app purchases for the Turbo game on the iPad!
Birthday Events:
Usually when we are home in New Jersey, the weather is still nice enough around Kian's birthday to have a mid day party outside. There is always a chance of rain, but the temperatures are moderate and just a little bit crispy as fall has just arrived. This year is a different story! The nice warm temperatures in Andalucia allowed us to take a dip in the pool before starting the preparations for the party :)
While we got busy preparing for the party, Hannah had fun dancing around the house in her Flamenco dress and Kian enjoyed some Zelda "screen" time with Daddy.
Because it was just so gorgeous outside, we decided to have the party on the terrace. and this is how the events unfolded.
My parents made the birthday hat for Kian out of construction paper, wrapping paper, and a cut out from a Turbo birthday card :). He loved it!
Then came the surprise cake...he couldn't believe his cake had the Turbo cake topper!
Followed by some presents from our awesome families (all not pictured here). This year we asked for few, small, and/or digital gifts since we are on the road and really can't carry too many things.
After the presents, it was time for the birthday boy to make a wish and blow out the candle.
And of course after you do all that...it's time to cut your cake and eat it too!!
We ended the festivities by looking at some funny cards sent from our families back home.
Thank you to everyone, near and far, who helped celebrate Kian's 5th birthday. He had a wonderful, wonderful day and went to bed a very happy 5 year old :)
And I loved how little we needed to have a great party. All presents, small and digital were greatly appreciated by our little man.
Are birthdays big in your house? How do you like to celebrate your little ones' special day?