Balloons!

One of the few things that we know for sure that Jack likes is balloons. So, a couple of months ago I decided to try to learn to make balloon animals and creations so that I could do them at his approaching birthday party. I found a ton of how-to videos online and quickly had success making the basic hound dog (this picture is of my actual first attempt).

Justin got into it, too, and learned to do a bunch of animals himself. I now know how to make about 20 simple creations! It's actually quite easy and really fun. The other day my friend Petra gave me a how-to book and I added a few more to my repertoire, including the alien-eyeball hats sported here by my sons, and the SO easy octopus which was a huge hit. I also showed off my new-found skill at a recent MOMS Club "End-of-Summer Party," which has thus far been my only experience twisting balloons for kids other than my own. It was fairly amusing to me that out of the many choices I had laid out for them, 90% of the boys chose airplanes and 90% of the girls chose ladybugs. I hardly got to show off at all! Ah well, there will always be kids wanting balloon animals! I'm pretty sure I'll get another chance!