An Elmo Birthday Party

We had Dan's birthday party tonight, since we will be at Bear Lake next Saturday which is his actually birthday. We held it at Susans house and had family come. Both sets of Grandparents, Susan, Eric, Russell & his family all came. Dan had a ball. He had fun playing with the "yoons" (balloons) and Susan's "eyesawr" (dinosaur). We had grilled chicken skewers, fruit kabobs, potato salad (egg-less for Gary), chips, olives, and red pickles to eat. And of course, there was cake and ice cream. I made Dan an Elmo cake. We also had Elmo balloons, napkins and an Elmo pinata - notice a theme?
Dan took a swing or two at the pinata, but his cousins had fun really beating it. I put almost 10 lbs. of hard candy in it. Dan cried at first when Elmo came crashing down, but it didn't last long when he saw the candy. He got his own little pile, and I think we made it home with two bags of candy. He got at least two pieces into his tummy.
Dan was all over the cake. He wanted to pull the candles out and dig right in! It was a task to keep his hands out until we sang him "Happy Birthday" and he blew out the candles. He really enjoyed his piece of cake. His cousin Ashli helped him eat some of it, and he tried hard to eat the rest with his fork. He even got some ice cream. He was a mess when he was done, but he really enjoyed himself. Good thing he was wearing his red Elmo shirt or else he would have red frosting stains on which ever shirt he was wearing! I hope they come out of the denim shorts he was wearing.
He got lots of great gifts. He finally got the hang of opening packages this year. Russ & family gave him a bubble gun that "shoots" bubbles. I think I'm going to use that as a potty training tool. He got musical books and a teddy bear from Granny and Opa, cars from Aunt Susan, a play cell phone, swimming pool, turtle floatie & "oh-boy" (cowboy) hat from Grandma & Grandpa. Gary, Jack and I gave him a Little People zoo, a set of cars, a sleeping bag and a dinosaur bank. He got spoiled. But I can't help it - he is such a great kid. And he is so sweet.
He did end up with a bruised eye - he ran into the dining room table. I think he had a blast though. I certainly enjoyed watching him enjoy the evening.