Allison's 5th Birthday

It took me forever to figure out what to do for Allison's birthday this year. I knew I didn't want to do at my house like last year which meant I needed to find somewhere to have it. Since it's too hot and rainy here in the summertime to even think about having it at a park, I had to figure out something else. A couple months ago I saw an ad in the paper that a local chocolate factory, Hoffman's chocolates, was starting to do birthday parties. I figured, how can you go wrong with chocolate right? My assumption was correct - we had the party yesterday and the kids had a blast. We had originally planned to have a bounce house at the party, but since the weather was not on our side, we had to scratch those plans. Which turned out to be a good thing. Instead, the owner of the chocolate factory offered to call a magician to see if he could come entertain the kids (mind you, this is at 4pm when the party was starting). We said, "sure, why not" and boy were we in for a treat! I would have been fine with no bounce house and no magician but he was offering it up so we took him up on his offer. But more on the magician later. So here's a few pictures of the factory/store and Allison and Daniel before the party:


The first thing the kids did when they got there was make a chocolate craft. They poured chocolate into a mold which was then placed in the fridge and at the end of the party the kids were able to take home their creations. Here's a picture of Allison working on her chocolate mold:

After the craft, the kids enjoyed a game of bingo, where everyone was a winner and received a heart shaped piece of chocolate:


Next we all got to go on a tour of the factory. Since it was an environment where food was being prepared, we all had to wear very stylish hair nets. That was one of the highlights. We all got to laugh at how silly we looked in hairnets. Many of the moms quite enjoyed the look, especially Thursa and Pam (you girls crack me up!):


Even little Daniel was content to keep this silly thing on his head:

During the tour, we learned how the chocolate was manufactured and boxed. We saw many different machines that do many different things. It was pretty cool. While I think the kids thought it was pretty cool, I think the adults enjoyed it the most!


After the factory tour, we had all worked up quite an appetite so we dined on some yummy pizza. Once that was finished it was time for the magician. I wasn't sure how well the kids would take to the magician. Most of the kids were five, but we also had some younger siblings in attendance. When the magician showed up, I wasn't sure quite what to expect. He didn't exactly look like your run if the mill kids entertainer. In fact, I was wondering if the kids would be a bit frightened by his appearance. Here's a picture of the magician:

Turns out this guy was truly AMAZING! He put on a fantastic show and the kids were quite entertained. He made live birds appear out of nowhere, stuck a flaming rod through his arm, and pulled a bunny out of a flaming can, all with Bon Jovi blasting in the background (parents enjoyed that part too). Allison even got to hold one of the birds:

The kids (and adults too) were quite mesmerized by the magic show:


Afterwards, all the kids got to pet the bunny:

After plenty of hand washing, the it was time to sing happy birthday to Allison. We really didn't need a cake since there was lots of chocolate and ice cream but Allison really wanted a cake and I'm never one to miss an opportunity to eat cake. Here's a picture of her princess cake and Allison blowing out the candles:


Along with the cake, the kids were able to make their own sundaes. They chose chocolate, vanilla or strawberry ice cream and then added a plethora of toppings including crushed oreos, nuts, sprinkles, gummy bears, snow caps, and M&Ms.



Yes the kids were quite sugared up after all the cake an ice cream so we were happy to send them home with their parents. So yes, Allison was completely spoiled for her 5th birthday. I told her not to expect that next year, or the next several years for that matter. I'm hoping next year we can just take a trip somewhere, I'm birthday partied out!