i have 2 daughters who will be having "big" birthdays this august - one turning 13 and the other turning 10 - they are homeschooled and have some friends but not enough they are really close to to have a big party - i still want to do something really special for them but i'm drawing a blank for ideas - they love fondue and i considered taking them to the melting pot but it doesn't seem very "kid-friendly" - my other thought is nakato's but i don't know if they do anything special for birthdays - please help me with some ideas!
one other issue i have is that i have two other children: a daughter, 8 and a son, 2 1/2 - i'm kinda torn on whether or not to include my two younger children in this birthday celebration - i don't want my youngest daughter to feel left out - also, my son has been having recurrent febrile seizures for the past year and a half and leaving him in someone else's care is a bit challenging - so any plans i make for this birthday will have to include him or take less than a couple of hours
any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated
Have a fondue party at home. They can each invite over 1 friend, dress all fancy with makeup, hair do's, jewlery, etc and have a fondue party at home. They have fondue pots at bed bath and beyond (I think). Cheap, easy, and different! Just remember the chocolate and strawberries. :-)
Birthdays are a big deal for us. We go all out for each of our children and each other. We just went through the same thing a few weeks ago.I made my mother in law mad because I told her that our 2 1/2 year old couldn't blow out the candles with her sister. I understand you don't want your 2 1/2 year old getting upset but it's not his/her birthday. You don't want them to think EVERY party is for them! They'll understand eventually, and it will be better at future b-day parties.
J.,
Not sure what your usually birthday parties are like but 4 kids and a couple of friends is a pretty good party. If you invite any family you might have, that could be really great. You can make a big deal by having a theme and a really special cake, either made by you or not. Depending on how your girls are people could even dress up or you and the kids can. Sometimes family is the best way to celebrate a birthday. I make theme kind of cakes for my daughter, she had a pocahontas party....she just turned 3 though, quite different from 10 and 13. Also insofar as going somewhere, it's sounds as though it may be challenging because of your son, but could be fine. Honestly I would ask your girls what they might want to do and maybe come to some kind of fun middle ground. hope this helps C.
As a fun 'summer homework assignment', have the 2 older girls to each write a list of 10 (or more) things that they would consider a 'fun activity' that you don't normally do. (Tell them it's 'for future reference' for you). Read their lists and if they both have something on there that's similar and that you could feasibly do, go for it! (Also try to manage making some of the other stuff happen periodically 'just for fun'!)
Oh, and if you do the fondue and don't already have a pot, call all the local 'thrift stores' in the yellow pages and see if they have one. I've seen them at these type places (Salvation Army, Goodwill, the city mission, etc)
a party in the park is always great for all ages. Get a cake and maybe hot dogs or something and let everyone play!!!
How about going to Darryl's restaurant? They have neat themed booth for customers. My other suggestion would be to take them to Emerald Pointe or Carrowinds for the day, if they like stuff like that. Good Luck!
I am a chocolatier with Dove Chocolate Discoveries and we have ideas that you could use for a chocolate party with the girls. I would be happy to discuss the options with you.
T. Dayton
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My kids are homeschooled too. I have a 10 year old daughter and 13 year old son. My daughter had a party with only about 6 girls last time and they spent the night, had a great time. I took them all to the pool too. If you want to do fondue, why don't you set up a pot at home? You can have all their favorite foods! Also, bring the other kids, it's a family celebration! The child without the birthday gets to invite 1 friend to hang out with and they usually do their own thing when they're not eating cake or opening presents. Just let them know what you expect before hand and remind them they will be having a birthday soon too. Good luck!
I know this is a little late, as I have been out of town. I see that you are a somewhat far away in Fort Mill and I am in Mooresville. I found a great place in Cornelius called "The Tea House." They have themed rooms and hats and boas for the girls to wear. It is a wonderful place for a lunch. Your 10 year old may really enjoy it. She can invite a friend or two and have tea (decaf of course) and lunch. A real tea party! If this is too far for you, there may be something close to you. If not, you could always have it at your house. You could buy hats and boas for the girls and purchase a "real" tea set. They could have finger sandwiches and wear their best Sunday dresses, complete with pearl (bead) necklaces, bracelets, and rings. Just an idea. Let us know how things go!
Happy Birthday to your girls!!! One fun idea for girls of all ages is to have a SPA birthday. Being a home-school mom, you can use this opporunity to "teach" your girls about proper skin care. They will have fun putting creams on their face and even have some cucumbers available to place over their eyes (did this for my daughter and the giggles and pictures were precious.) You can share with them how to clean, file and buff or paint their nails. Incorporate your fondue idea by setting it up at home with some fancy plates and napkins. A few carefully placed candlles, some nice music, have guests bring their bathrobes and give flip flops as party favors.....all this will help to complete your SPA theme. Most of all, enjoy this special time with your daughters.
I, too, am a home schooling mom and my two oldest children are 2 years apart and their birthdays are in September and August. We rented one of the local pools for 2 hours. Cost was $75 for up to 20 kids (They need to pay lifeguards and more are needed for more kids). We also took our grill and grilled out hot dogs and had cake. This was the best party because we combined 2 kids' birthdays and all their friends played together, which is very surprising because my oldest is a girl and my second is a boy! For me it was the most relaxing party because all I had to clean up was the picnic table. No cleaning my house beforehand and no cleaning up my house after! LOL!
Would they enjoy a spa day? A manicure and pedicure? You could take one friend of theirs each and then take them to lunch at their favorite rest. You could have a party for them at home with either a few friends or just family and then you could do fondue yourself! We do it and it is GREAT. You can do dinner and then do chocolate fondue for dessert. Do they like bowling? I would say Melting Pot is suitable for 10 and 13 but you may need someone to watch your smallest ones just for the two hours it will take. You could call Mokato's and see what they offer and if they don't do anything, you bring a cake! You could at least have them light the candles and bring it out and you all could sing to them.
You could do a slumber party for them, even if they only have 1 friend each they could do movies and pizza and fondue for dessert! You could go on a quick weekend vacation to Chattanooga and do the aquarium if they would like that. You may even want to ask the girls what they would want to do.
Have fun!
do you have an Embassy Suites near you? We took my daughter and some friends for a sleep over. you can get adjoining rooms to solve the problem with the younger siblings. maybe grandma could come and help. they have a pool, you could do your own fondue or order pizza and in the morning the breakfast is made to order. We had a blast swimming and doing manicures. We even decorated pillow cases so the girls could each go home with something. It was so much fun - we also turned it into a teddy bear party and asked each guest to bring a bear rather than a present and the bears were all donated to the Fire department (they keep them for calls involving children, fire, accidents, etc) it was tons of fun. our other favorite party is to rent out the rollerskating rink for a couple of hours for a private party where friends and their parents and siblings can skate. Whatever you choose as long as they feel special for a brief moment in time they'll remember it. :) good luck
