Happy Birthday (Party)....Super Sophia!

This year, we decided to have Sophia's birthday party a little earlier than usual because Russell will be out of town the weekend of the 16th for a golf trip. The weekend of the 23rd, my parents/sisters/uncles and cousins are going out of town....So that left June 9th.

We went with a Super Hero theme because when I asked her what theme she wanted for her party, at first, she said Spiderman. Then she changed it to X-men. I had a feeling it could keep changing until her party arrived so I suggested a Super Hero party so that it would cover anything she might change it to (if she changed it to Princesses, I'd have been in trouble). 

My party planning began with finding the perfect invitation. I found this one on Etsy and printed them at Artscow.com. It seemed cutesy and girly while still being Super Hero.

While I was searching for the invites, I talked to Sophia about where she wanted to go for her birthday party and we tossed around a few options, but she kept going back to Build-A-Bear (she'd gone by this particular  one on one of our playdates). This Build-A Bear is inside Cook Children's Hospital and 100%of the money spent there goes directly to the hospital. So I decided that we'd have it there even though I knew it was gonna be a little crowded and pricier than we normally do for her parties.

So here's what I came up with for decor....a cityscape with Super Heros.

I think Sophia loved it all!

Each year, at her parties, I choose a book to go with the theme of her party and have all her guests sign it. I was able to find this cute book! How perfect for her theme!

I got the cake from Hot Chocolates. They did a great job!

The guests started arriving and Sophia was super shy.

Hello Iron Will!

I made capes for each guest...pink emblems for the girls and yellow for the boys.

Here's Batman!

Each child got to pick an animal, stuff it, bathe it and dress it with a shirt of their choice.

I think Sophia was enjoying herself.

Hello Thor!!!

They did their normal heart ceremony except this time, all the kiddos got 2 hearts, one to put in their animal and one to put in Sophia's animal.

Hello Sparks Family!!!

Then they played a game of alligator ring toss.

After that it was bath time.

Here are all the girls from Sophia's school.

Here's all of her guests...I think. It was hard to get everyone in one place.

The kids were READY for food! Chick-Fil-A nuggets, chips and fruit snacks (the gummy sugary kind), balanced out with some organic juice boxes. :)

Then it was time for cake. Sophia wanted chocolate.

Then it was time for presents. I was a little scared that she was going to catch her hair on fire when she leaned forward. Good thing we were in a hospital.

Sophia was thrilled and excited. Then they went out to the Build-A-Bear computers to name their animals, print their birth certificates and get their boxes to put their animals in. I think this is where Sophia lost it. She had a meltdown that I didn't even have time to catch with my camera. 

But she pulled it together and we let her run around a little at the indoor playground because she hadn't really had much physical activity that day.

Next stop...home. Sophia wanted to go through each package again to really see each gift. 

And after that she took a nice long nap.

Happy almost birthday sweet Sophia! Hope you enjoyed it because next year, I'm going to attempt to throw your party on a budget. That's the plan anyways.

On a side note, thanks to my mom, dad, sisters (Robin and Amy), and all the moms and dads (Tricia, Apollo, Sommer, Holly, Kristin, Cara) who pitched in to pass out nuggets and cake. You all ROCK!!!!!