On August 2nd, Jada officially turned 12 years old. We celebrated on that day with family and a delicious ice cream cake.
The entire week we prepared for what she called her first “real” party. This girl has had plenty of parties but I guess she doesn’t remember. She said this is the first year she was able to invite school friends. Jada’s birthday is in the summer so she isn’t in school this time of year. Now that the kids have cell phones and social media pages she can keep in touch with them.
Saturday morning we were up early to prepare for the party. Jada is a lot like myself; a little extra at times. I knew I needed to step it up or at least make her think this was going to be the best party ever. We decorated the main area where they would hang out.
I tried to surprise Jada that morning with some gift bags I made for the girls. She is just so nosey that she just had to know.
Jada created the menu for the party. Earlier in the week I told her to text me her menu. She texted back only including her favorite, chicken fettuccine. I told her a menu was more than one item. Why did I say that?
Here’s what she texted back:
Chicken Fettuccine
Teriyaki Wings
Meatballs
Mashed Potatoes
Parfait
Rotel
This girl was ready to party. I told her we would need to modify her menu slightly. Here was the official menu:
Chicken Fettuccine
Meatballs
Rotel
Mashed Potatoes
Oreo Cupcakes
Strawberry Shortcake
S’mores
Ice Cream
I should have stayed with her menu. This seemed like so much more. I have been teaching all the kids to cook as they get older. They all love to help and we were done in no time.
All the girls had arrived by 4pm. Shortly after, they began discussing all the stuff they wanted to do. Some of the girls were ready for water play and the others were ready to eat. They voted and the decision was to eat first.
It didn’t take long at all for them to devour the food and get into their swimsuits. They enjoyed spraying each other with water and the Slip n Slide. About an hour and a half later they were in dry clothes and ready for bowling by our scheduled time of 7pm.
We arrived at Crest bowl shortly after 7pm. The parking lot was packed but we caught a spot near the door as someone pulled out. Don headed in to ensure we could secure a lane. Unlike normal people, we didn’t make any reservations. We are kinda spontaneous people even though we planned to go bowling…go figure. I usually always have a plan B but in this case I didn’t. I just knew it would work out somehow and it did. There was a lane available. The girls grabbed their shoes and balls and were ready to go.
One of the girls hadn’t bowled before but that didn’t stop her from beating the other girls in a game. They bowled for an hour and we headed back home. We planned to set up the firepit and let the girls hang out and make s’mores. They had a lot of fun.
I wish I could tell you guys what happened after this but I fell asleep. Don handled putting out the fire and putting away the leftover food. He is the best. I haven’t spoken with Jada yet this morning but I already know she had a blast!
Don was up early heading to grab donuts for breakfast. Welp, now that I’m feeling like the best parent ever….I’m off to enjoy a donut before they’re all picked over. Have a great day!!!
Do you celebrate feeling like a rockstar parent? We beat ourselves up for every little mistake we make, why not celebrate when you’ve been AWESOME!!!
Johnson Family Workshop 