Joel's 4th Birthday Party (3 of 3)

We had a Toy Story themed birthday party for Joel.  We started the party by playing with all the various Toy Story toys that we have at our house.  This activity was greatly enhanced as some of the first guests arrived bringing more of these toys (more on this coming).  Joel, along with his friends (and the parents) enjoyed checking out the features of various Buzz Lightyear and Woody figures, along with Mr and Mrs Potato Head, Etch-a-sketch, talking phone, etc.

Joel playing with big Buzz.

At the last minute, we invited 2 of the boys from Jim's youth choir to attend the party.  These guys love Joel and happen to have been fond of Toy Story when they were younger.  We thought Joel would like them coming to his party, especially since several of his originally invited friends were unable to attend.  This was the best idea ever!  I'm pretty sure all future parties will involve youth attendees!  They were amazing!  They did a great job of playing with the little kids, facilitating the games (after I provided the initial directions), and having fun themselves.  They even brought their own Toy Story toys that they had outgrown to give to Joel.  Again, what a blessing these boys (and the rest of their family) are to our family.

The Claw Game:  The Claw is one of Joel's favorite scenes from the movies.  So, we created our own version with Joel's stuffed animals and a claw.

Woody's Roundup: For this game, I hid 4 Woody action figures in one room of the house.  The kids had to then find them or Roundup Woody. 

Action Figure Race: This game didn't actually get played, but Joel designed (and decorated) the game and sign so I wanted to share it.  He was going to have Buzz race on his racecar against Woody on RC.  He plays this on his own, even if it didn't happen during the party. 

To Infinity and Beyond led us outside for the pinata experience. 

Special thanks to David and Daniel for holding the pinata.

Then it was time for dinner.

We had homemade Cheese pizza and BBQ Chicken pizza.

After dinner it was time for cake and ice cream.

Joel was super excited about his superman ice cream.  As ice cream fans, we are less than excited about his ice cream choice.  Oh well, he also likes good ice cream. 

Joel's piece of cake was complete with Buzz on top! 

The kids received an age appropriate Toy Story snack container or water bottle as a party favor.

Joel had so much fun at his birthday party.  He loves being with his friends.  He's already looking forward to next year.

Thank you for your patience as I come back to blogging after an unexpected time away.