Celebrating

in general is an important aspect of life. We celebrate birthdays, graduations, engagements, promotions, and much more. With all of our commitments and busy lives, it’s important that we slow down every once in a while to appreciate the things life throws our way. I was able to do just that over this past weekend.

I have

two young daughters. Between June and July, we’re celebrating two birthdays. With one turning nine and the other turning three, we’re bouncing back and forth between computer games, stuffed animals, and play food. When it comes to birthday parties, themes are becoming a challenge. Not only that, but we have family living out of state that make the effort to come back and celebrate with us. However, when you have a party at the beginning on June and another in July, travel gets a little tough. So, we thought we’d try a little something new this year.

A combo

party at the local bouncy house place was what we decided to attempt this year. Here are a few of the benefits we saw in the approach:

• Up to 20 kids could attend for the same “low” (ha!) price
• Family could attend one party yet celebrate with both girls
• The theme of the party worked for both the nine and three year old
• “Helpers” were available to help open presents, serve cake, and take pics

All things considered, the benefits of celebrating two birthdays at the same time seemed pretty good.

How did it

turn out? Really good actually. We had 14 kids show up in total. It was about a 70/30 split with more in attendance for the nine year old vs. the three year old. We ended up paying about $275 total for two hours of jump time, a balloon drop, party favors, and refreshments. If we would have split the parties, I know we would have been over $275 total – and that’s for nothing extravagant. Just having family over, buying lunch, and having some refreshments runs in the neighborhood of $100. That doesn’t include activities for the kids either.

By singing happy birthday separately to each girl and having a little prep talk with the nine year old, neither seemed to be upset about sharing. In fact, I think it helped them to bond a little better. Plus, celebrating in an environment kids just generally love – you know, jumping on everything, balloons, slides, etc. – we didn’t have to worry about a princess theme or a pony theme or any other theme. Pink plates did the trick.

Would we do

it again? Absolutely! The girls were happy, their friends had a great time, they got a bunch of gifts, and we saved some money in the process. Sure, there are less expensive routes but if you’re going to throw a party, being able to combine the celebrations definitely helps!