Finalization Party Ideas...

[font=Century Gothic]I'm not even close to this point in our journey, but I wanted to say,"CONGRATS!!" It must feel really good to be finalizing.:0)[/font][font=Century Gothic]As for the party...maybe in a theme that the children enjoy in your backyard, or a bbq...I love the Open House idea..[/font][font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]What ever you decide, have fun with it, and don't forget to tell us all about it![/font][font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]Hugs,Crina[/font]

If there are going to be a lot of kids (and if you have the room), you could rent one of those moon bounce things for them to bounce on. You could pick a fun theme (like aloha party) and decorate accordingly. Maybe a dj? congrats

We were once planning something similar--weren't able to go through with it...but here are some of the ideas we tossed around: to start the party, a small event with family pastor saying a prayer over the joining of this family....daughter gets beautiful, frilly dress for the occasion. With this age, possibly even Family pendant presented after prayer....they have Family coins now that would be appropriate for sons. Lots and lots of balloons. Oriental Trading has wonderful decorating stuff....must be very, very festive. AS previous poster suggested, those blow up bouncy things are fabulous for kid parties. Also, Walmart has packs of Fun Dough that are 97 cents for four---and they make great party favors...as well as great entertainment for kids this age. Have a table with some Fun Dough and cookie cutters out---that was the most popular station at my daughter's recent b-day party--and she's 1!! Also, these individual containers make great ornmanets to tie balloons to on the table...and are colorful and festive. Final note here: recently found on the internet where you can make personalized wrappers for playdough containers with your child's picture. Look for candy wrapper templates...on your search engine...great idea with your children's pics on them.... Easy decorations without buying: go to local library or school and use their die-cut machine to cut out different shapes of animals. Have these line the middle of the table, cookie animals or Rice Krispie treat animals, pb& j sandwiches in animal shapes.... In announcement for party: if you would like no gifts, suggest bringing your favorite children's book to share with the children and build their own personal library. Hope this isn't too corny...just thought I'd let you know some ideas.

Great ideas given already! I'm stealing some of them! We don't have our court date yet, but will be finalizing the adoption of our 5 year old daughter sometime this summer, so we're also mulling around party ideas. We also have a large guest list with both kids and adults, so we're splitting the party into two phases (at this point, anyway!). Her friends will be invited in the afternoon, probably around 3, and we'll have lots of fund activities to do including a trampoline. Parents are welcome to stay, but this is focused on the kids and all the refreshments, etc. at this point will be kid focused. The kid portion is for 2 or 3 hours, and then we have a big bbq and parents return (and are now responsible for their kids) and other adult friends arrive for dinner. This way we get to have some time with everyone, but the adults who are special people in our lives who don't have kids aren't standing around while I'm focused on a bunch of ankle biters. I LOVE the book gift idea!

This might not apply in a rural area, but for my daughter's 3rd birthday and 1st anniversary home, I had a petting zoo brought to my yard and a pony ride. It was such a hit. The kids loved the animals and the older folks loved watching the kids. Some even pet lamb or two. There was something for all of the age groups. It was an over the top party for a truly special occassion. For party hats I bought cowboy hats from Oriental Trading with Flags around the brim. I did the party with a birthday and Americana theme to celebrate 1 year in the US. I had the cake made in the shape of a barn. And the goody bags had a bandanna theme on the. I found bench farm animals and stickers etc. for them from Oriental Trading too. Just another idea that worked well for me.