Krispy Kreme Party!

 Nate is SO my son. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I l.o.v.e donuts. And always have. Well, ever since Krispy Kreme was (re)built here, we have started a family tradition. Every Sunday after mass - if the kids are good - we go get a donut. So, Nate's love for donuts has been growing over the past 2 years, little by little. And now he is full on obsessed!! So when I asked him where he wanted his6th birthday party, it was a no-brainer for him.

Luckily, I have 2 friends (with older kids) who had had parties at Krispy Kreme before. So I knew it would possible. After lots of talks with the manager, I was able to talk them into letting me have a party with 18 kids. It was a wee bit crowded in there, but Nate had a ball and that's all that matters to me.

 They even let me bring in extra food to make it more of a brunch than a morning sugar-fest (we had the party at 9:30 am). The workers kept coming up to me and saying it was the "fanciest" party they'd ever had there. Hilarious!!!

 Growing up, my parents always made a big deal about our birthdays. Whether it be a party at McDonald's, at the bowling alley, or a sleepover with a scavenger hunt, I remember my childhood birthdays very vividly. So, as a result, I usually go "all out" for my kids' parties (according to Greg at least). I feel like it's their one day to feel extra special, so why not!?

With that being said, I looked into hiring a magician to come to Krispy Kreme but it was WAY too expensive and he was not "pleased" with the small space to begin with. So Plan B was to hire Nate's friend's mom to come & do balloon animals. She did an a.m.a.z.i.n.g job!! So T-Town friends, check out her FB page here if you want to hire her sometime.

She was definitely the hit of the party! We had created a "menu" for the kids to choose from ahead of time, with about 10 designs. But Nate - as the birthday boy - got an "advanced" design, that Dawn did at home ahead of time and brought with her. How cool is this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle!?

Once all the kids got there, it was time to line up for our TOUR!! (Notice Abby is not in this picture. Yeah, she was having a hard time with all the attention Nate was getting and was crying. In my arms. For like 30 minutes.)

Parading to the back of the store for our tour. Of course everyone had to wear a special glove!

Each kid got to make their own chocolate-glazed donut with sprinkles!

One word: HEAVEN.

And then came the cake! Nate was in shock, but as you can see his friend Jack was even more so! Ha!

BFF's....having some Lego talk

All the boys from Nate's class wanted TMNT too :)

My little sis & her hubbie flew in for the weekend with my nephew Anderson. We had such a great time with them!! (More on that later.) Anderson had a rough night the night before, so he took a long morning nap and Mike brought him to the party near the end.

No worries though, there were plenty of donuts left!!

Oh, Poppy. He is something else. He made friends with some of the workers early on, and ended up bartering with them. Yes, he gave them a few of our leftover sausage balls & mini muffins, in exchange for a dozen donuts. (As if we needed more!) Look how proud he is!!

Abby was the very last one to get a balloon animal made. She was so patient! And by the looks of this face, her butterfly was worth the wait!

It was "the best party ever" according to Nate, and I think all his friends had a good time too. A big thank you to my parents and Bec & Mike for helping so much with everything!!

I can't wait till after mass on Sunday when we head back for another donut! :)