Again this year I was at a loss of what to do for Padon's birthday. The concept still wasn't quite there for him and when I would ask him what kind of party he would like he would give me an answer that would be about birthdays but not about what he wanted for his birthday. But finally, a month before his birthday, we were walking from the bathroom on the ferry, on the way to Leo's, and I asked again and Padon replied, "I want a Spiderman birthday party; Greg can have a Batman party but I want a Spiderman party!" I was stunned and the more I thought about it the more I got excited. I said "Oh Padon, I can do a Spiderman party! Let's go tell Daddy!"
It was great we had a month to plan because then we could really take the time to plan the activities. We decided to have the party at our house, crossing our fingers for sun and great weather, and we sent out the invites.
Both Walter and I worked hard on keeping the party items a surprise and that meant having to send Padon to school on his birthday. To my surprise he remembered that in our house you have Pancakes for breakfast on your birthday, something I wasn't prepared to make in time, and that he didn't want to go to school on his birthday, he wanted to go to the zoo. I desperately needed his birthday, two days before his party, to buy the last few items and assemble the party favors and games. We plied him with going by school with the promise we would pick him up early and we would go to Red Robin for dinner. He was pleased with that and off we went.
Walter and I bought mylar balloons from The Dollar Tree among other items and bought the remaining items needed from Party City, which was really fun, and went to pick Padon up. I brought the balloons to his classroom and wowed him with the beginning of his birthday celebration. He wanted to carry the balloons and we went to Red Robin. He got to have his requested burger and loved, albeit it shyly, the singing waiters and waitresses who sang Happy Birthday to him and brought him an ice cream sunday.
After we went over to Walmart and looked at bicycles, still with the balloons. Walter and I had talked about getting Padon a Bicycle and Walter said it was something a father and his son did together (this I did not know) but he still felt like he was having that moment with me there. Padon wasn't too impressed with the two wheeler Walter found in his size, though, and it was obvious if we got him one it would result in a lot of tears and we didn't want that. Instead Padon was doing laps around the aisles on a radio-flyer tricycle. He loved it! So much that Walter and I agreed this was the bicycle we needed to buy. Under the guise that Walter had to go to the bathroom and we would meet him at the car, Walter snuck away with the tricycle in a box, and we played just long enough for Walter to buy the tric and stash it in the trunk of the car.
I couldn't wait for Sunday! Finally the birthday party was here, the sun was out and the weather warm, and Padon was relieved and ecstatic. He had eagerly been checking the days to his party off on a calendar for about a month and when his party didn't happen on his birthday I could tell he was starting to believe it was never going to happen. Instead we had pancakes, let him open the tricycle which Walter assembled with him and I just about bear hugged Leo who came early to help watch the kids while we put the party together and I iced cupcakes. 
Friends and family arrived to a super hero cape assembling table (plastic table cloths cut into 3 foot wide sections with yarn strung through the top to hold them in place and a bunch of markers and stickers to decorate with, as well as super hero masks to also decorate),
a hamburger and hot dog BBQ, a spider web game assembled in our living room (the kids each got a piece of yarn they had to follow and untangle through a web of toys and furniture to find a prize tied at the end), 
and a Spider tagging game (a spiderweb drawn on a really large piece of cardboard with large and too life like spiders stuck on it. 
The kids smacked them off with a sticky hand and when they knocked one off they got the spider and the spider's nest; a ball of Spiderman party favors and candy wrapped up in zebra stripped crape paper). 
We opened presents, 
had cupcakes, 
and the kids ran free in the yard. It was a very successful and fun party to plan and everyone had a really great time. 
I look forward to what Padon will want to do next year. I can't believe he is 4 already!
Friends and family arrived to a super hero cape assembling table (plastic table cloths cut into 3 foot wide sections with yarn strung through the top to hold them in place and a bunch of markers and stickers to decorate with, as well as super hero masks to also decorate), a hamburger and hot dog BBQ, a spider web game assembled in our living room (the kids each got a piece of yarn they had to follow and untangle through a web of toys and furniture to find a prize tied at the end), and a Spider tagging game (a spiderweb drawn on a really large piece of cardboard with large and too life like spiders stuck on it. The kids smacked them off with a sticky hand and when they knocked one off they got the spider and the spider's nest; a ball of Spiderman party favors and candy wrapped up in zebra stripped crape paper). We opened presents, had cupcakes, and the kids ran free in the yard. It was a very successful and fun party to plan and everyone had a really great time. I look forward to what Padon will want to do next year. I can't believe he is 4 already!
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