The beauty of the party was that we really just dictated the party colors to them, ordered the cake and some specialty balloons, and favors and we were set! The ease in planning the party was a breath of fresh air by the time May came around and even though Charlotte wasn't exactly sure what was going to happen we had talked it up a good bit so that she was excited.
We got her up from her nap and immediately into her Elmo outfit (SunfireCreative worked to create an outfit just for Charlotte). We then headed to her party. When we got stuck at traffic lights on the way there Charlotte would yell, "Go Charlotte's party!" She was ready to go! Her unfamiliarity with the gym showed when we got there because she was a little hesitant at first and wanted to be held but she soon started going back and forth to family members and once her friends started getting there and they opened the gym she was ready to go!
They started the party off with some circle time on the mat where all the kids sat down and sang "Happy Birthday" to Charlotte. They then got to play with the shakers and pretend that scarves were butterflies. Once circle time was over they inflated the air track (which was a huge hit!) and gave the kids free time to play for a while. Charlotte was all over the place running from person to person and activity to activity. We are blessed to have very large families that live nearby and are very supportive so not only did we have fourteen kids there with their parents but we also had all of our families there -- it was a packed house and Charlotte was never at a loss for someone to give her attention!
After a little bit of free time they deflated the air track and brought out the big parachute. Back when we were taking gym last fall Charlotte didn't like the parachute so I was unsure as to how she would take it when they asked her to go sit in the middle but she ran out there like a pro and had a lot of fun! She did get a little nervous later when they started talking about wrapping her up like a hershey kiss so Abby was sweet enough to go out and sit with her to make her more comfortable. She had a lot of fun!
After an hour of fun time in the gym we moved everyone into the party room for cake and pizza. All of the kids were pretty worn out at this point but they dug into the food and we enjoyed watching them interact!
I'm so thankful for sweet friends like Lindsey and Natalie who drove up from Birmingham for the party! I am so blessed to have y'all in my life!
We headed home at the end of a very unforgettable party. I know that Charlotte will not remember it other than through pictures, but she had a great time with her friends and family! She talked about "Charlotte's party at lil gym" for weeks and about "Charlotte's cake". She was pretty disappointed to wake up on Monday and hear that it wasn't her birthday anymore. Having the party away from our house let us include our friends which made it special for us and also let us really enjoy the party and not work through it because the staff was incredible at not letting us do a thing!
We were exhausted after the party and Charlotte was especially, until she got into the car and looked in the seat next to her and exclaimed, "PRESENTS!!" After opening presents at home we all slept good that night after a fun-filled day full of lots of love and celebration of our sweet baby girl and her birth!
I'm LOVING the picture of your sweet family. Truly a perfect day. So glad I was able to be there to celebrate!
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