Parker's Birthday Party

This past Saturday we had Parker's 4th birthday party at our house. This is the first year that I let Parker choose what theme he wanted for his party and he chose Toy Story.

Before the party started we were able to get a few family pictures. (For those of you who are counting, that's two decent family pictures in one week! I think I may have reached my yearly limit on good family pictures!)

My annual picture with Parker on his birthdayThe kids had fun jumping in the bounce house while we waited for everyone to arrive. After everyone was there, we played a game with the little green army men from Toy Story. I had planned on hiding the army men in the sand and letting the kids dig for them, but the sand was way too wet from all of the rain we got last week. Instead, I just hid them in the grass and let the kids hunt for them like Easter eggs. Next we came inside for cake and ice cream. When Parker decided on a Toy Story theme a few months ago, I started looking online for cake ideas. I found one that I liked, but it was more elaborate than anything that I have ever made. I decided to try it anyway and it ended up being so cute! There were definitely some things that could have been better, but overall I was very pleased with how it turned out. The most important thing is that Parker loved it! He was so excited when he saw it and the look on his face was worth all of my time and effort!

The cake looked like Andy's bed with all of the characters around it.

Parker became very shy when we sang "Happy Birthday" to him but quickly recovered when I started cutting the cake!
After cake, we went back outside for the pinata. I was not planning on doing another pinata this year, but Parker kept asking for one, so I finally gave in. The kids did much better hitting it this year and they all went home with lots of candy.
Finally, it was time to open presents. Parker's friends were all so generous and he got a lot of fun new toys, including Lincoln Logs, a game called Don't Break the Ice, a tractor and a remote control car. He has had so much fun playing with all of his new toys this week!
For party favors, I found some Toy Story dry erase boards for each kid. Parker also got one and he has spent so much time the past few days drawing people and houses and writing his name on his new board.
Parker had such a great party and we are so thankful to all of our family and friends who were able to come and celebrate with him on his special day!