I Now Return You to the Regularly Scheduled Program

We celebrated Aaron's eighth birthday while we were visiting in Evansville. My kids have had birthday parties almost every year, but this is the first time one of them has been able to have a big family party. I rented a shelter house and P.K. was able to make it for the weekend. Aaron wanted a snake themed party. Go figure.

We used this picture to make the invitations.

There aren't many ideas to be found for a snake party other than making a snake shaped cake. I decorated the tables with thinly shredded green paper (the kind that is used to stuff gift bags) and spread it down the middle of the tables for grass. Then I hid snakes in the grass. It worked out well. Then we took all of Aaron's stuffed snakes and some stuffed snakes I bought as party favors and put them all over the room.

The kids painted wooden snakes.

Some of the adults thought it looked like so much fun, they jumped in on the craft.

This is my dad painting a snake.

I bought bug catchers at a dollar store to use as goody bags. Before I filled them with goodies, I hid small plastic snakes in the grass and the kids used them to collect snakes on a snake hunt.

Here's Aaron picking up snakes on the snake hunt.

The kids with all the snakes they found on the snake hunt.

I thought about making one of the snake cakes I saw online, but my cousin reminded me that the local bakery transfers pictures to cakes. We used the picture we used for the invitation on the cake.

Aaron received an aquarium and all the things to go in it that he will need for his pet snake. P.K. and I gave him a gift certificate for his snake which we will purchase at a reptile show the beginning of August. (We will never be able to top that gift.)

His actual birthday was the following Tuesday. My dad bought donuts for breakfast to celebrate.

One of our traditions is using the "celebration plate" on special days. One of those days is birthdays. Most of our traditions are what I call "portable" traditions. Because we move so often, our traditions need to be able to travel with us. When I realized we would be gone on Aaron's birthday, I packed the celebration plate. His eyes lit up when he realized I brought it.

Aaron with his birthday donuts on our family celebration plate.

We had dinner at my mom's house that night and I picked up another cake at the grocery store just so he could have cake on his actual birthday.