Chance’s 4th Birthday Party

We celebrated Chance’s 4th Birthday on Saturday.

Stephanie Baker helped me plan the WHOLE event.  We thought up the Safari theme and ran with it.  She even translated all the kids games into “Safari/Animal” games.  She and Zena TOTALLY helped facilitate all the kid stuff so I could focus on the food, cake, photos, parents portion of it.  They helped make it SO fun for the kids that they didn’t even notice the bi-polar weather (in the 2 hrs we were at the park, it was sunny, it rained, was sunny hot again, and then rainy again as we were cleaning up).  Chance had a BLAST!!!  I am SO thankful for these girls!

Here are some photos I took from that day.

These are the vegan cupcakes we (Crystal and I) made.  A couple of Chance’s friends have some allergies so we thought we’d make it more friendly to everyone.  Well… the frosting wasn’t vegan, but it didn’t have anything they were allergic to in it, so we were good.  They were actually quite good!!!

We wanted to conserve a bit, so we got these cute cups they could use AT the party as well as hold all their party favors to take home.  Of course, I had to write their names on the cups… swine flu and all, right?

The skies… threatening to rain on our safari… THEN actually raining on it for a few minutes.

The kids lining up in prep to attack Stephanie with their water balloons.  This was Chance’s FAVORITE game.

Janet and Paxton… REAL FRIENDS come to 4 year old birthday parties… even if they don’t have 4 year olds.  Man, I LOVE this woman!  Isn’t she beautiful?

Blowing out the candle.  I think I forgot to tell him to make a wish.  I’ll make it up tomorrow… for his REAL birthday!

Chance has been waiting for this ALL year!

I’ve decided that kid’s parties are EXHAUSTING!!! But it was really fun being creative on how to make this event memorable for Chance, yet cost effective.  We spent a fraction of what we spent last year… and I think it was more fun for the kids.  That’s success!

Thank you to all the grown ups that hung in there with us during the sunny, now raining, now sunny, now STORMING weather!  You really helped make Chance’s day.

What have YOU done for your kids’ parties?
OR
What was your favorite party memory as a kid?

I’m taking notes here!!!

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UPDATE:  Cupcake Recipe as requested:

Fluffy White Cupcakes: makes 22 cupcakes

1 TB apple cider vinegar
1 ½ scant cups plain soymilk
2 1/8 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 1/8 cups sugar
½ cup oil
1 ¼ tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. coconut extract

Preheat the oven to 350º. Spray 22 muffin cups with nonstick spray or line with paper cupcake liners (I like to spray the inside of the muffin papers with nonstick spray to help the cupcakes release). Set aside.

Place the apple cider vinegar in the bottom of a liquid measuring cup and fill the cup with soymilk to equal 1 ½ cups. Stir well and set aside (the mixture will curdle).

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another mixing bowl whisk together the soymilk mixture, canola oil, vanilla, and coconut extract. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and beat until smooth using a hand-held mixer, stopping once to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Fill each muffin cup with ¼ cup of batter. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.

Let cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then remove cupcakes from the pan and place on a wire rack. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.