4th of July Birthday Decor

Our 4th of July celebrations are always doubly special because we also celebrate Sebastian's birthday. It's insane to me that we're doing this again already! WE JUST CELEBRATED HIS EIGHTH! 

I decorated the dining room the night before because he's always the first one up and I wanted him to start his day with a little ping of excitement, even if no one else was up to share in it! Ruby is our night owl so she colored him a card while I hung the fans and arranged the balloons.

Sugar Confetti Shop so generously sent us some decorations that I picked out from their online shop. I knew I wanted some huge balloons but I had NO IDEA they were THIS BIG! I sent Brett to Party City to get them filled with helium the night before and he almost didn't get them all in the car. I got a text as I was putting Smith down that he didn't think they'd all fit and I thought I was going to have to wake Sebastian up and haul all three sleepy kids into the night in order to squeeze one of the giant balloons into our second car but he finally texted back that he'd figured it out. SUCCESS! I know there's some sort of analogy about square pegs and round holes here...or round balloons and rectangular cars.

Sebastian got some really fun gifts from family members and was especially thrilled about a new bike that doesn't leave him hunched over. It was time to upgrade from the one he got when he was four! 

After opening presents and having breakfast, Brett took the big kids to see the movie, Inside Out, and I finished making the cake. I'd done the base layers the night before and wrapped them in saran wrap so no curious early risers would get into them but my birthday boy thought they were brownies for some reason and dug in. It wasn't a total lost cause and who can be mad at the birthday boy for having his own cake? I mixed up a little extra cream cheese frosting and filled that hole with extra love.

It was funny watching Smith dig in. He looked like he still remembered how this worked from his birthday a few months ago. I am glad I remembered to take his shirt off before handing him some cake.

"Can we do this every month, Mom?"

We finished off the afternoon with pizza and S'Mores around a bonfire per Sebastian's request. What really happened was I took Smith on a walk downtown while Brett and the kids made S'Mores and got eaten alive by mosquitos. Toddlers and bonfires aren't my favorite mix right now so we resorted to the trusty divide and conquer method of parenting. We then piled into the car and drove to the top of a downtown car park for a quieter view of the fireworks. We could see them spread out in different neighborhoods all over the horizon and got to avoid a crying baby that doesn't quite understand what's going on. Despite everyone being over tired, full of sugar, and cranky at the end of the night, it was a successful day of celebrating both our country and our son!

Last year was celebrated in Colorado Springs at Memorial Park with thousands of people and a terrified baby. The year before that we'd just sent Brett off to Kuwait and I found out the same day I was pregnant with Smith! Oh, how quickly time passes.

I hope you had a lovely 4th of July weekend (if you're in the States), too. Mosquitos and all.

-Rachel

Details: Honeycomb, fans, plates, cups, balloons, and candles c/o Sugar Confetti Shop.

Comments

[Annalise]

Sounds like such a great birthday and holiday!! Ours was pretty low key, but still fun of course. BBQs are the best. :)

[Beverly]

This post made me smile smile smile :)

[Lisa]

You have a beautiful family and seeing them always brings me joy (and occasionally happy tears as this one did). I enjoy your blog very much and thank you for sharing your creativity and your family with the world.

[Paige]

Oh I love those balloons! I'm going to have to get those for my kids birthdays this year!

Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com