Remember a few days ago when I shared some of my favorite birthday parties of years past? I shared that to give you a dose of pretty, because Sophie’s party this year was all practical and no pretense. Last year, she attended the birthday party at a local play place and hasn’t stopped talking about it since. We were already in the thick of party planning for our unicorn bash, but she assured me that we would have to celebrate at Let’s Play this year. Honestly? I tried to talk her out of it. It seemed overpriced and limited and the creative part of me really wanted to throw something beautiful… and blog worthy. Hear my heart when I tell you that every party I’ve thrown has been for the girl and not for the blog, but I sure do enjoy giving you those recaps each year. I agreed that since it was her birthday and she never once, in fourteen months, wavered about what she wanted, we couldn’t do anything different.
Planning was tricky. Her birthday fell right on Easter weekend and sandwiched between two dance competitions. Also? Her BFF shares her birthday weekend and Jennifer & I always have to compare calendars when making party plans. We opted to celebrate on her birthday, even though it was Good Friday, and we had a surprisingly good turnout. The venue provided pizza and we carted in gluten free cupcakes and dry snacks. I took the girls (and Braylen) right after school and we got a few good hours of playtime in before the party guests arrived. They ran and jumped and played (for HOURS) and we opened our gifts in pajamas after we got home. It might have cost as much as my car payment, but the look on her face made every moment worth it. Especially if I can convince her to enjoy pajamas and pancakes next year!
This place is massive and has all sorts of fun things to do — zip lines, climbing tubes, slides, bounce houses, tunnels and more! There are plenty of comfy seats for the parents and free wifi.
Yes, Ella’s helmet was on backwards for at least forty-five minutes before I noticed. She was mortified.
We had to take a little rest while we waited on all of our party guests!
In addition to a party room and an entire day of access, your party package includes a dance party with a character of your choice. They had a long list to choose from, but in true quirky Sophie style, she opted for the Minion. Our party coordinator came out to announce her dance party and once the flashing lights started, the Minion made his way onto the dance floor.
She thought he was kind of cool and loved watching her friends dance, but I could not convince her to get out there and dance. She later told me that she only liked to dance in private. Ha!
Once the dance party was wrapping up, we all squeezed into this photo op area for a group shot. I wish you all could have witnessed this first hand. When they first sat down, there was a young boy sitting next to Sophie dressed in a Jedi Knight costume. His dad was standing on a chair snapping photographs of the party guests. Did I mention we had no idea who he was? The party coordinator kept asking if there were any “extra kids” in our picture, but I felt awful asking them to leave. The jedi eventually snuck out, but these two adorable boys never budged. Their mom obviously had no idea they were crashing the party and my husband was laughing hysterically in the back of the room. I blurred their faces to protect the innocent and none of the extras made it to the party room for pizza.
Sophie had the best time celebrating with her friends and it was exactly what she wanted!
