Theme BBQ Night: Half Birthday Celebration

This post is sponsored by Target. More Turtles, More Bold and Daring Fun: Blur the lines of fantasy and reality with your favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at Target.

My children were all born in either fall or winter. Jack and Beau are my winter babies, and Zoe and the new baby will both be my Virgo, fall babies. This makes for a fairly long summer, but mostly a very, very busy holiday season. We tend to have a lot of fun with holidays and birthdays, there is a ton of cooking, baking, and decorating surrounding each one, and I can’t say I’ve ever had more fun than introducing these traditions to my children. Watching their excitement and anticipation is part of the magic and joy of parenthood, especially as they interact with each other and gear up for each special date.

This summer out of the blue, Jack figured out his half birthday fell on July 24th and decided he was going to celebrate. Half-birthday celebrations aren’t something I’ve ever paid attention to, but he got it into his head and decided he was going to get really, really excited about it. So, there was chatter and buildup amongst him and Zoe until I relented and decided we could adopt into our schedule a family birthday celebration during summer. I’m more traditional in the sense that I think we should get one birthday a year and celebrate it with a party, but this would also give us a chance to elevate our Summer Theme BBQ nights just a notch higher. And so, we went to Target on a family adventure to gather decorations for a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Half-Birthday, Theme BBQ Night party.

Our Summer Theme BBQ Nights have been coming up more and more frequently. Now that we’re home for the remainder of our free days before school starts and we only have one child attending a day camp, our nights are beginning to beg for diversity. The kids started dressing up for our BBQ nights, and it was so much fun that Justin got involved and Theo as well (possibly not quite as willing but patient nonetheless). This particular Sunday, we decorated our little patio out back for the Turtle Time BBQ/Jack’s Half Birthday celebration and it was a really fun way to add a little excitement to our week. Not to mention, Jack was completely thrilled with the idea of throwing a “party” for turning seven and a half.

I went on Pinterest to find Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle party ideas, and of course I found more than a few, but many of them were much fancier than I was really planning on getting for an otherwise somewhat simple BBQ. Target had just the right amount of decorations and activities that I was hoping for, and Jack was more than excited to help me pick some out, too. They’re inexpensive enough for a casual event and yet can also be used for much more elaborate parties.

We all had a rip roaring great time, and although I was a bit hesitant to add another birthday to the calendar for my children, as long as there weren’t any real gifts involved I can’t see how it’s anything but a fun way to spend a Sunday and recognize what is to Jack, a really big day. Time will tell if this becomes a regular tradition, but it’s pretty darn fun for now.

Thank you to Target for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own.