Peter Pan Party: Celebrating Hudson and Hayes!

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Party Details:

 

Hudson and Hayes first watched Peter Pan last year when I rented in on Netflix. When it came out of the Disney Vault a few months ago, I grabbed it for them immediately. And we watched it about 100 times in a month. I’m not kidding. They wanted to watch it constantly.

When I asked Hudson what kind of party he and Hayes should have, he immediately knew he wanted a Peter Pan party. And this totally thrilled me! Peter Pan is one of my most favorite stories. I love the magic and the fairy tale and how it’s not super duper sweet, but it is so much fun! There’s adventure and I just love the overall lesson to never grow up! And think happy thoughts!

It was a little harder to plan this party than parties in the past because all of my party supplies are in storage. We’re still living at Todd’s grandmother’s house.

Todd’s parents graciously offered to let us host the party in their backyard, and I am so thankful. Their backyard is absolutely beautiful!

We used their back porch as the staging area for all the food and drinks. And the place where the fans could live. It was a hot day!

We did a joint party because my boys’ birthdays are exactly a month apart, and it’s just easier on families to do it one time. And my boys have so many friends that are siblings. It ended up being great to just invite entire families to come play for the afternoon.

I ordered all of the baked goods (resources are listed below) and then we picked up a Chick-fil-A nugget tray. I made pinwheels and we also had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, “Lost Boys Trail Mix” and “Tick Tock’s Goldfish.”

I wanted a tall cake with both of their names on it, and a “Neverland” type of background. So Ally & Eloise created a blue cake with stars on it. My mom brought the adorable wooden pirate ship and she painted it for the boys. And I had gotten a lot of small Peter Pan figurines to add to the top of the cake. The boys went ba-nan-as over that cake!

My boys love Tick Tock the Crocodile and Nana the Nurse Maid. Seriously, the Peter Pan characters are the best!

We turned the playset in the backyard into a pirate ship by hanging a Jolly Roger flag. My boys got a tee pee from their KK for Easter, so we set that up in the backyard to be like the Indian Brave village.

We used a large inflatable baby pool and filled it up with multi-colored balls (no water) to be the “Mermaid Lagoon.” It ended up being the most fun little place for the little kids to play!

I also rented a bounce house because, let’s face it, 4 year old little boys love a bounce house and need a place to release their energy!

For party favors, we gave each family a Little Golden Book of Peter Pan, and all the little boys got felt Peter Pan hats and the little girls received a set of fairy wings. And all the favors were super inexpensive and a big hit!

It was a super fun party to plan. I lost a little bit of my planning mojo about a week before the party and considered not doing it at all, but I’m so glad we did. Hudson was just beside himself with excitement over the party, and has been on a Peter Pan high since that day!

Party Resources:

 

Cake, Cupcakes, and Petit Fours: Ally & Eloise in Columbia, South Carolina

Cupcake Toppers, Invitations, Food Labels and other paper goodies: Sweet Birdie’s Nest  (and their shop)

Iced Cookies: The Doughmestic Housewife

Peter Pan Favor Hats: A Rainy Day Play on Etsy

Tree Trunk Cupcake Stand: Your Divine Affair on Etsy

Fairy Wings, Peter Pan Golden Books, Peter Pan Plush Characters, Disney Figurine Set: Amazon.com (all over the course of a year)

Straws, Balloons, Paper Cups: Shop Sweet Lulu

Bounce House Rental: Jumperee in Columbia, South Carolina

before Hudson met Hayes

Before Hayes was born, I had this overwhelming feeling of worry. But I was worried about Hudson. I was so worried that we were going to completely rock his world, and that our relationship with him would change.

I worried that he would be sad and feel left out and jealous. And, mostly, I was worried that he would instantly grow up more than I was prepared for him to grow up. To help him prepare for the baby’s arrival, we just talked about the baby a lot. We told him Hayes’s name, and we would pray for the baby every night before bed. I think that constantly talking about it helped prevent some of the surprise when Hayes was born.

We also took Hudson to the store so he could pick out a gift to give to Hayes in the hospital. He picked out a little stuffed animal, and was excited to give it to his baby brother.

My friend, Nina, sent Hudson a book called “I’m A Big Brother” and we read it every day, multiple times a day. And we continued to read it once Hayes was born. He loved looking at the pictures and talking about his new baby brother.

The weekend before Hayes was scheduled to arrive, we had a weekend of fun just for Hudson. We took him to his favorite places and just really had a great weekend celebrating him and soaking up our time with just our little family of three. We were thrilled to be welcoming Hayes, but we were very well aware of how much life would change.

But, goodness, all that worry was for nothing. Life wasn’t a cake walk after Hayes arrived, but the amount of love that our hearts can accommodate just grew and grew. There was no reason to be worried.

And in these first couple of weeks at home with Hayes and Hudson, my mom was there with me while Todd was at work. Having her there helped us divide and conquer, so that Hudson and Hayes were both being cared for at all times. I think the adjustment went really well, and our boys are getting closer and closer to becoming the very best friends.

How did you help prepare your child for a new sibling?

Check out the Huggies Mommy Answers Facebook app and find more posts from bloggers sharing their experiences of motherhood on the Huggies page on BlogHer.com.

Hudson's first Gamecock football experience

A couple of weeks ago, Todd and I started talking about taking Hudson to his first Gamecock football game. We thought the game against UAB would be a good one for him to attend, as we expected that the crowd would be a little more tame since it wasn’t an SEC opponent.

RC and PC kept Hayes at their house, and we got Hudson all decked out in his Gamecock apparel for his first Williams Brice Stadium experience.

We decided not to tailgate, and to just get to the stadium an hour before kickoff. We knew that would give us plenty of time to make our way to the stadium and get situated in our seats before any of the pregame entertainment began.

Hudson was so excited about his hat and the Gamecock on the back of his hat and on his shirt. We held his hands and walked to the stadium. He was paying very close attention to everything. He noticed all the cars, all the Gamecock gear, all the policemen and police cars.

Our first stop was at the concessions stand. We had promised Hudson a Sprite (a treat he’s only had once before) and popcorn. He was so excited! We got inside the stadium really early, so it was easy for him to see everything and he was able to see the band file onto the field.

When the Gamecock first crowed over the loud speaker, Hudson was immediately fascinated by the whole experience. He loved the fireworks every time we scored and he loved the rooster crowing. He clapped when everyone  clapped and loved shouting, “Go Cocks!” at the top of his little lungs.

We made three trips to the restroom- and he still never actually used the restroom. I think he just wanted to see the restroom. He just got the full Williams Brice experience!

We left right before half time. He had started to lose interest in the game and we’d run out of chicken fingers. I asked him if he was ready to go home, and he said, “Okay, mommy. Let’s go home.”

He was such a grown up little boy. I was so proud of him on Saturday. He was super excited and appreciative of everything he saw. We may take him to another low key game this season. He was such a little trooper.

We went to RC and PC’s house after the game to pick up Hayes. Hayes was already in bed, and Hudson immediately started telling everyone where he’d been that night. He told them all about seeing Cocky and the huge jumbo-tron (he called it the big TV) and the Gamecocks winning. He was so proud of what he’d gotten to do, and that just made my heart explode with happiness.

We woke Hayes up and put him in the car to go home. On the way home from RC and PC’s house, the car was pretty quiet and both boys were sleepy.

I heard Hudson start talking to Hayes about where he’d been that night. He started telling Hayes about the Gamecocks and Cocky. He told him about the popcorn and Sprite.

And Hayes, he doesn’t say a lot, made a few excited noises and laughed.

And then Hudson said, “Don’t worry, Hayes. You can go, too, when you’re a big boy.” And I looked at Todd and had to fight back the tears.

Going to his first game is such a simple thing, but it’s such a big first in his relationship with his Daddy, who is a Gamecock fan since he was about Hudson’s age.

He may not remember his first experience, but he’ll always have the pictures. Todd and I, on the other hand, will never ever forget Hudson’s first experience and how we introduced him to a tradition that he’ll be a part of for a long time. (And we’ll just continue to keep our fingers crossed that he remains a Gamecock fan and doesn’t cross over to the dark side. Kidding!)

 

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