Book Carnival - Levi's 7th Birthday Party

First up is the outfit I made for Levi.   I changed the wording on the "ticket" on the front of the shirt from circus to carnival, put a 7 on the back and a tent on the shorts.  I love the colors in this one, even though the white shirt stayed white for all of 5min.   

The set up...

Food:

There were vegan meat balls, they got eaten quick!

Ice and water in the cooler

The room:

Cake table

Tattoo parlor

Reading area:

Ice cream decorating station:   I assigned 2 boys to set this up, I expected to get 1 topping in each bucket, (reused from last year's party), but they mixed them in each.   Some ended up with mandarin oranges AND jelly beans in the same cup (gross).   The kids didn't seem to mind.    All of the toppings were brought all the way from Trader Joe's in Nevada!   (dye/junk free)

Bathrooms:

Library bag decorating station:

Bookmark decorating station (stickers, crayons, glitter glue, ribbon)

Outside set up:

Bubble Blower

Banner and games

Turtle toss  (made from cardboard box, shot glasses from the dollar store and ping pong balls)

Putt Putt:

Relay races (kids put books on their head to race)

Frog toss (cornhole game)

Spray away:  This was the most popular game.  Its simply "flame" decorated ping pong balls set up on empty spools, and a spray bottle to squirt them off.  

Fishing game:   The fish were made by the boys, and they tested it many times. 

Balancing station:

Penguin ring toss:

Pick a Duck (pick a duck, roll the dice, and see if they match)

 

 The party!  

Decorating library bags:

Tattoos:

Bookmark decorating:

Ring toss and horse shoes: 

Pick a duck

Horseshoes

Tree climbing:

And fishing:

Ice cream decorating

...and eating! 

And cake!   I decided to get the cake stand last second, and I'm glad I did, it was very cute.   The toppers are little print outs of his favorite books taped to toothpicks.   Cake is a gluten free, vegan vanilla cake with lemon glaze. 

After the main party, several people stayed to swim:

Love my little Levi!   He had a great "last day of being 6"

It was a great party, and I'm grateful to the friends who helped with the set up and clean up, it is so much work, but so worth it to see all the fun the kids have! 






Last goodnight to my 6yr old. 

Neilson Surf Camp

Levi really wanted to go to surf camp.  He went last year to a 3 day camp right by our house, but because I had the week off, and a coupon, we chose Neilson Surf Camp instead.   Little farther away, but 5 days.   I decided to go ahead and join in instead of sitting on the beach in the sun all week.    Despite my lack of coordination, I had a great time!   Levi loved it of course, and did a great job improving his skill at paddling and standing up.  He started with a big foam top board and then worked his way down to his little custom 5" purple swirly board. 

Warming up:

On the water:

Catching a wave: 

Me!

I made cookies to bring on the last day, they all got eaten.   Recipe for vegan cut outs here

Levi hangs out with the teen girls as usual.  (they were great about putting up with him!)

We even got trophies to take home, which Levi absolutely loved.

And a fun video, Levi is in it a few times including his tandem surfing! 

Post by Neilson Surf Camp.

We learned a lot, had a lot of fun, didn't get sunburnt and no one made fun of me for being the only "old" one there.   Hope to go back again next summer!     Thanks Neilson Surf Camp!