Jawsome Shark Birthday Party (part two)

In Part One, you saw the creative details — invitations and decorations — of my son’s Jawsome Shark Birthday Party. Part Two is all about the food, friends and fun!

Since we had a house full of rambunctious kids, it was a great time to officially open our backyard playset. Here are the happy party-goers on the upper deck.

The slide is mounted to a 5-foot-high platform, so the kids really went flying! Of course, the swings were another crowd favorite.

We devised an age-appropriate obstacle course as an organized activity. Party-goers were divided into two teams and had to traverse the course while holding a small cup of water. They had to (1) cross over shark-infested waters (unfortunately our cardboard dorsal fins fell flat, but the ocean blue room roll came in handy here, too),

(2) duck under and through the hoops, (3) step through circles laid out with garden hoses, and (4) empty whatever water was left in their cups into jars at the end of the course. Then they raced back to the start to hand off their cups to the next team members. Whichever team filled their jar first, won!

I didn’t give out any prizes; the kids were happy enough to play and have fun together. They played on the course long after the activity concluded, and even started a couple rounds of friendly competition on their own.

This guy tagged along for the cake presentation. I ordered the Shark Air Swimmer online and filled it up with helium at a local party store. The Chief piloted it.

It was pretty cool, and you can always count on little kids for dramatic effect. It was received with lots of shouts and screams and wait… does she not see me?! (Cue Jaws theme music) Duh, dun, duh dun, duh dun!

To prepare for a feeding frenzy, I planned this low-maintenance and tasty menu:

• Ham + Swiss and Roast Beef + Cheddar Sliders
• Pepperoni Pizza Dip + Sliced French Bread
• 7-Layer Dip + Chips
• Watermelon Shark with assorted fruit (made by my friend, Ayumi!)
• Yellow Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

And to mark the occasion, a Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting with a shortfin mako shark on top. The mako shark was not only a great cake topper, but the perfect toy to add to my son’s ever-growing shark collection.

We were incredibly blessed with a beautiful day of celebration.
Thank you to everyone who made it so very special for him! — v.

Check out the Shark Party Collection available for purchase in the Shop.
Follow my Pinterest board for more birthday party ideas and inspiration.