Last year the minis chose to forgo birthday presents and their annual Birthday Bash in favor of a big vacation (read about our 9 day road trip through the South Dakota, Devils Tower, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, and Big Sky, MT here). Since we already did a pretty big trip over spring break, we knew a big summer vacation wouldn't be in the works, which was fine by the minis. They knew exactly what they wanted for their birthday's and they definitely wanted a Birthday Bash again. In the past we've done Raccoon River Park, one year at our (old) house, and another year at an Aquatic Center after hours. They had hopes of doing it on a Saturday night again at Northwest Aquatics Center, but we couldn't seem to find a Saturday night all of us were free all of June!
Since I'm on the Board of Directors for the Des Moines Children's Museum, I've seen many cute and fun birthday parties on my volunteer days. I knew it would be the perfect location for the mini's party as well. They were instantly on board once I mentioned it to them. We ordered Jimmy John's party platters, chips, veggies, and Scratch cupcakes. I didn't have to worry about games or any entertainment because the kids played the entire time (in fact, we almost forgot to do cupcakes and sing happy birthday because everyone was so busy playing!).
The Museum has tables, chairs, plates, napkins, and silverware for party renters to use. I brought our own because I have an entire bin full of party supplies that need to be used at some point! There were plenty of seats and room for everyone in the party room as we ate and chatted. I also grabbed some of our party horns and threw them on the kids table for decoration. Thankfully we were the only ones in the Museum because the kids REALLY loved the horns!
Rainbow Skittles cupcakes from Scratch.
With our Saturday's were booked for the month, we decided to hold a private party on Sunday (when the Museum isn't open). Since the Museum is volunteer run, to book a private party someone must be available to help run it. Luckily, I was available for my own party! While we didn't have many kids show up due to family vacations and other summer obligations, it was really nice to have the party room and the Museum to ourselves. I highly recommend looking into the Des Moines Children's Museum to book your birthday party. All of our guests loved it! Since it was laid back and the kids entertained themselves, I actually had time to chat with guests.
The walk to the bathrooms with these four was interesting!
Loading up the minivan was simple since we used the Museum's cart to bring out presents and leftovers. When we got home, we were all beat, but excited about our red peppers that popped up!
