Kung Fu Panda Party {Jack's 6th Birthday}

In the midst of our summer travels was Jack's birthday. I decided to go easy on myself this year since we were coming back from two weeks in the Keys and leaving again in two weeks for a 9 day road trip to Minnesota to see Ben's family for the 4th of July.

Luckily, Jack didn't think the birthday was low key. He was amped when I told him about the idea of having a Kung Fu Panda birthday at the Tae Kwon Do center {two of his favorite things}. He'd been to a birthday here before and remembered that the birthday kid got to break a wood board with his hand and cut his cake with a Samurai sword – no need to convince him that this was going to be the coolest birthday ever!

I commissioned the invitation from an Etsy shop and paid a whopping $25 for personalization and printing {would have been less, but I had to have them reprinted because I left the first invites in Tallahassee before heading out of town}.

To say that this was the most relaxing birthday is a vast understatement. Besides a few craft projects the week of, I made just fruit and salad and ordered the rest of the food. We left the house the day of the party at 12:45 to pick up food and cupcakes, arrived at 1:30 and was done with set up by 2, leaving an half and hour to kill before guests started arriving.

We served Roly Poly wraps, Chinese Ramen noodle salad, fruit trifle, cupcakes and cake. And green tea and cranberry ginger ale to drink. Most of the kids enjoyed pizza from Hungry Howies at the end of the party {which was part of the party package}.

The cake was also a party perk included in the package at the martial arts center. I think she did a pretty good version of Po and the cake itself was all-natural and delish!

And we had the most adorable Oreo panda cupcakes provided by Lucy & Leo's Cupcakery. They do such cute work. I just brought in a photo and they delivered.

Guests received Chinese take-out boxes stuffed with treats and chopsticks as favors.

Chinese handcuffs {finger traps}, Panda snacks from the Asian market and fortune cookies were hidden inside.

The fortune cookies were from Beau-Coup. You can get them in a multitude of colors and personalize the fortune found inside the cookie.

A personal message from the birthday boy himself and his birthdate were the lucky numbers. They were pure awesomeness!

And here are the photos of the adorable birthday boy and party-goers from the Tae Kwon Do lesson that Master Brad led.

Watching Jack anxiously await the instructions was priceless. He was so excited he looked like he could pee his pants the whole time. He kept turning to me and Ben and mouthing the words, "Best Birthday EVER!"

All of the friends seemed to enjoy themselves. Jack broke the wooden board with his bare hands for all of his friends.

Then it was birthday song and cake cutting time.

That is one happy little guy!

The Incredible Hulk Smasher gloves have been the talk of our house for a long time. He told Nancy that he wanted them very much and she delivered. All of the other gifts from his friends were big hits as well. I can't say that he is a hard little boy to please. His gifts ranged from Power Rangers, to Hot Wheels to board games and he loved every. Single. One.

On Monday, we celebrated his actual birthday with our family gift. He awoke to balloons hanging from his doorway and new big boy bike in the living room. He's still a little nervous on it because of its size, but he is getting used to it quickly.

We went to eat Japanese food {at his request, of course} that night at Azu. This kid loves Ramen noodle soup as much as a normal kid likes chicken nuggets. We surprised him by secretly telling the waiter it was his birthday and asked that they bring out a special dessert. They topped an ice cream sundae with a sparkler and when it came out, it was a huge surprise to him. His reaction was classic. And he even shared his ice cream with his mom, dad and sis. Sweet boy.

Happy 6th Birthday, Jack! You are such an entertaining little boy with a heart of gold. We love watching you grow up to be a big kid.