A Bubbly Birthday

In a much-anticipated event that captured the mind, heart, soul, and attention of an almost-three-year-old for weeks, Helios finally officially celebrated his third birthday with a little pomp, a tiny bit of circumstance, but mainly with bubbles and cupcakes.

The themed party was kicked off early on with invitations made of bubble wrap and dye-punched circles, helpfully pasted on by Helios himself, and enhanced with a bubble wand on the inside flap. Each invitation also came complete with a little dusting of glitter for no real bubbly purpose except that it elicited a little sadistic smirk from Mommy when she thought of people opening the invitations to have glitter on their hands and clothes.


On "Birthday Party Eve," Helios indulged with gifts from Daddy Jane, Grandpa Mel, and Uncle Scooter, including two new friends from the Thomas the Tank Engine line and a new set of Geotrax, which accommodates fire trucks, trains, and police cars. Understandably, we were all pleased that Helios received another track set. From Helios' perspective, more is always better and nothing sets a little boy's heart atwitter more than having a track that accommodates multiple vehicle types. From the parents' perspective, we're happy because now we have the ability to have one fully functional train in every central room of the house (excluding bedrooms and bathrooms). It's every homeowner's dream fulfilled!

The actual birthday party day dawned bright and early, with much hubbub. Helios had previously seen the box that contained his gift from Mommy and Daddy, a two-seater Red Flyer wagon, so his excitement was uncontainable. Then, when he saw the cupcakes upon which he would later feast, his excitement grew.





The party was held at the local YMCA, where the cost to host the party away from home was well worth the paltry sum we paid. The Y provided a mini trampoline, climbing ropes, a parachute, balls, foam ramps, mats and pads, and balloons. Mommy and Daddy provided bubbles, punch balls, snacks, sugar, and toddler music on the CD player. The children ran around like little joyful screeching sprites. Apparently one of party's highlights was when the children ganged up on Uncle Elmo. By using their combined weight of about 250 lbs (which represents about 8 children), they were able to wrestle him down where they pummelled him with balloons and punch balls, making Mommy regretful that she'd never had that opportunity when she grew up with him. Meanwhile, Helios capered around the mats with one of his preschool friends, cheerfully oblivious to the padded violence occurring around them.



The lesson we took from this is that the adults should get party favor bags, too -- preferably filled with ear plugs and aspirin, and maybe some Bengay for those on the upper edge of parenthood. Maybe next time.

Happy Birthday was performed (a song that Helios had been practicing for weeks previous) and then the birthday cupcakes came which, although pretty, appear to have been a challenge for Helios to eat. Afterward, Helios opened his gifts to much ooh-ing and aah-ing, puncutated by the occasional, "WOW!"

Afterward, we pulled out the bubble-making machine which was the arguable highlight of the event ... at least for Hesperos who did his best to catch the soap bubbles that might've been as large as he. Whenever he touched one, it would, predictably, pop, making him chortle with glee.

Then, there was a little more sugar-induced frenzy before going home, where Mommy and Daddy put the kids down for naps before crashing. We breathed a huge sigh of relief, thinking, "yes, now we're finally done and can relax," before it hit us...

Now we need to get ready for Christmas.