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Having the kids' birthdays so close together is incredibly exhausting but it's also fun because neither one ever really feels left out. :)

This year we had a low-key family only hangout for our spunky 2-year-old. She loves Sofia the First so I made her a cake, we went swimming, opened gifts and had pizza. She was sweet about the whole thing and we had a lot of fun celebrating her!

It was Walt's year for a blowout friend party. And oh. MAN. It was definitely a blowout. Months before his birthday, I started asking him what kind of party he might like to have. He immediately said "Zelda," and I inwardly cringed. Not only would none of his friends have any idea what Zelda was, it would be so hard to plan because they don't exactly sell Link piñatas at the Party Store. I tried so hard to talk him into a Star Wars party or Ninja Turtle party. He agreed to a Star Wars party but he just wasn't that excited about it. One of my friends wisely said to me - "Who cares if no one knows what it is? It's a party, they'll all have fun, and Walt will love it." I thought this over and told Walt later that day that if Zelda was what he really wanted, then that's what we would do. I scored major mom points that day.

PS: It's hard to fill the same room with balloons twice in 10 days!

And actually, this party was so much fun to plan and host. We created a "game" the kids went through where they had to find pieces of the tri-force at the different sanctuaries.

First, they made shields for their quest:

They used keys to open a treasure chest in the Lost Woods...

And water "bombs" to defeat a bokoblin (or "Gobo" as Walter calls them)...

Finally, they had to cross the hot lava of Ganon's Tower to defeat Ganon himself with their master swords!! Our amazing friend Mike actually volunteered for this job. He was great and the kids got a serious kick out of it.

I integrated some other things from the game into our snack and the party favors.

I'm so glad I went with what Walt wanted. Most of the kids actually loved the whole thing-- and now they know what Zelda is!

This crazy Nintendo loving boy is such a hoot. We're so glad he is ours.