Kennedy turns 5!

Kennedy & Jade watching soccer

Kennedy turned 5 this weekend, and while there were many, many things different about her birthday this year, I think she still was able to have a great time! Eric and I really struggled coming up with something that we could that would be fun for her and feel like "home", but that wasn't too stressful for us. It was tough, I'll admit. 

Last weekend, he spent Saturday scoping out a place he'd heard would be great for Kennedy's party (you already know about my reluctance to host people at our humble abode). He found it, chatted with them about prices and options, and booked a reservation for her birthday at 1:00. Feeling very proud of himself, he told me all about it when I got home from soccer that evening. I told him that sounded great, but since the party was at 1:00, I would be at soccer again, and so he would be in charge of the whole thing. I had never seen the place (and it sounded really expensive to me), so I figured he would okay taking charge. Not so. He quickly reminded me that birthday parties are my thing, and that he would play no part in the hosting. He'd taken responsibility for the legwork.

the girls singing Happy Birthday

Needless to say, I wasn't feeling like this was going to work out. I can't plan something that I know nothing about and that I won't be present for, and since he was not willing to be responsible for it either, we had to change plans (quickly at this point!). He was more than willing to relinquish the whole thing, and so we ended up with the traditional party at home.

He had planned to take just our kids to the play place for her birthday during the day while I was at soccer, but he came home with a really high fever Friday afternoon from school. So, instead I thought I would lighten his load on Saturday and take Kennedy with me to my soccer jamboree. One of her good friends was planning to come because her older sister is on my team, so there was another set of parents to help me keep an eye on her, thankfully. Thirty middle school girls and a five year old is a lot of kids to be responsible for! Kennedy had a great time playing with Jade and hanging out with me and the girls. She even got to Skype with Eric's mom and brother from the field.

the cake was delicious!

her new baby carrier

We made it home by 4:00, so we had about an hour to shower and get ready for her guests. We had a small group over since we have a small apartment (and very few plates and glasses!). We ended up with a total of six kids and six adults which was perfect for our place. Eric made a little iPhone scavenger hunt around our apartment complex to get the kids outside for a bit (he took pictures with the phones of things to find, then we had to take pictures of the kids with each item that we had to find). Then we fed the kids pizza and the adults made sushi for dinner. (I know you're shocked. We never do sushi!) It felt like a true Butler party because I even made Top Ramen Salad. Kennedy got some great gifts (nearly all accessories for "Baby Jane"), and she really enjoyed the chocolate cake we got at Paris Baguette that she has had her eye on since our arrival here in Seoul!

Scavenger hunt

I know that she missed her family and friends back home. And I felt really bad when Eric felt he needed to prepare her for the fact that no one would be spending the night, but she just said, "Of course not, Dad. We don't have a futon downstairs for anyone to sleep on." Sometimes she's just so matter of fact. I do love that little girl!