Weston is 6: A Pizza Party

My baby boy turned 6 this month and it has me feeling two things.

1.  sad because he's not such a little boy anymore

and

2.  Excited at this new phase of life we are entering.

While I enjoyed the baby, toddler, and preschool years, I love this new phase where they are a bit more independent, they help in the kitchen, they have chores, they like to go on adventures.  It really is a fun time!

Weston is my social butterfly.  He has made some really good friends both at church and at school and I knew he was going to want to invite as many as possible.  Because of that, we decided to do a friends party at our local California Pizza Kitchen.  Almost all of the kids we invited came and it ended up being so much fun!  I designed this invitation based on something similar I saw on Pinterest.  I wanted more color and really loved the pizzas that came with the artwork I bought off etsy. 

I went super simple with decorations.  I put red, plastic table cloths on the table and then each kid gets a CPK pizza box to decorate and a small pack of crayons.  I also made signs that go in each two sided frame.  I really liked these frames because they stand straight up and are perfect for table centerpieces.  I also put several packs of crayons in red and white striped paper cups, so the kids had more color options when they started decorating their boxes.  Then I tied some balloons to the end of the tables. I also found the cutest felt pizza banner at Target a few days before and it was the perfect little piece of pizzaz. 

 

Our favors were super simple treat bags filled with mini wooden rolling pins and some mini playdoh containers.  Weston loves playing with play doh, so it was fun to give away something that is special as a way of saying thank you for coming.

We also started a tradition several years ago to give a book that goes with the theme.  We have it out, so that our guests can sign it and write something nice or encouraging in that he will find later.  I got a few kids to sign it and some grandparents to sign it at our family gathering, but other than that I failed!  It's still the cutest book and it fit perfect with our pizza theme.

These boys were kept so busy!  First, they all went on a tour of the kitchen, where they got to see all the behind the scenes fun!  They all crammed into the freezer and smelled fish.  Then they split into two groups.  One group came back and played pin the pepperoni on the pizza and the other group went and made their pizzas.  Then they switched.  While they ate their pizza, they played pizza Bingo and got a pizza tossing lesson (HUGE HIT!).  We opened presents and ate ice cream sundaes and then it was time to go. 

 Having a party at California Pizza Kitchen was awesome!  The kids were very entertained.  They let us bring in Weston's special cheese and they brought him a brownie instead of ice cream.  We ordered a couple of pizzas so that the parents could munch if they wanted to.  Weston was given a chef's jacket, but he was so proud of his 6 shirt that he wouldn't put it on.   The staff was so patient and kind, and I didn't have to clean up any messes!  I actually felt a little guilty just walking away.  It was so weird not having something to do after the party was over.

Sources:
Invitation designed by me, using artwork from Erin Bradley Designs 
  I printed them through greetings, by Costco.  They were double sided cardstock with rounded corners.  I was really impressed by the printing! 

Banner: Spritz, for Target