Xavier Turns 4!
Happy Birthday, Xavier!
Above is the invitation sent out for Xavier's party. The picture is from the cover of the book Dragons Love Tacos which inspired the theme of the party.
Several hours last night cleaning the patio and back yard, power washing the gazebo, moving tables and chairs, staging food stations and trash receptacles and finishing hand-made decorations resulted in quite a presentable venue for a taco party for dragons.
Of course, the work did not end last night (Rebecca did not finish putting together the brilliantly done homemade decoration of the dragon made from construction paper hands until well after 10:00 PM). This morning, we staged the food, moved crock pots into place, iced coolers, loaded drinks. Wow, no wonder I urged Rebecca to out-source Xavier's party to a location where other people did the work of setup and tear down.
When we discussed having Xavier's first formal birthday party, the idea of out-sourcing was considered. It had appeal on some points, but not in others. For Rebecca, the decision to have it at home came from us having a large enough house and yard. For me, because Xavier has asked for some time to have friends come to the house. Of course, the expected mess left behind by fourteen four-year olds (and a few less than four year olds) was all that I imagined. Even now, Xavier's play area in Middle Earth still languishes from the aftermath of Hurricane "Xavier turns four". We'll clean up that mess tomorrow; the EPA has declared it a super-fund site!
The party was a great success. The kids had a lot of fun running around, in and out of the house and around the yard. Rebecca got to know many of the moms better. I got to know some of the dads.
Of course, we served tacos for lunch! Chicken and beef as choices, plus all the toppings (all mild, of course—because dragons hate spicy tacos).
One adult did ask if we had any hot sauce. I told her we didn't put any out. We did not want the dragons to have tummy troubles (I've read what happens when they get the tummy troubles, and I like my house!)
Xavier enjoyed his party. He ran with his friends, showed off his room and toys, played tag and so many other impromptu games boys invent. Except for a single taco shell and one bite of chicken (which I made him eat), Xavier ate nothing for lunch. Too much else kept his attention, and lunch only slowed him down.
Xavier fully understood the time for cake. He tried blowing out the candles before they got lit; even while being lit, he tried blowing them out. One candle (the fourth) apparently bemoaned him turning four and did not want to light. It was like a trick candle in reverse. The others were burning down while number four wouldn't singe.
Finally number four ponied up and four candles burned on the nose of the dragon. Happy Birthday was sung, and Xavier knew to wait until the singing ended. He smiled with that smile telling people he knew he was the center of attention. As soon as that last communal word rang into the air, he leaned forward and blew out the flames. Xavier officially turned four!
We learned a lot from hosting our first birthday party. For example, don't put gummy candy in the gift bags when you have the party outside in the hot sun. And speaking of gift bags, we learned next time we won't hand them out until toward the end of the party.