confetti for new years eve.

We started a tradition about three years ago with an idea that i found on pinterest. Basically you fill balloons marked with different times. Inside each balloon is an activity that they get to do, a surprise scavenger hunt of sorts. The boys loooove the excitement of popping the balloons to see what is in store for them next. The activities can range from simple ideas, like 2017 cinnamon roll art to more elaborate ones like outings to dinner and the movies.

 Last year Dylan was sick so it was especially fun to redeem ourselves this year with a bunch of fun locations since everyone was feeling up to it this year. I randomly decided to video document our day with snippets of each activity we did on Instagram. From the late night prepping the night before to the stroke of midnight (9pm insert wink) I was able to capture tid bits of the fun. I had so much fun doing this and love that i have it to look back on. The best part was just spending the day with the boys as a family. Aaron and I took the time to sit down (the day before haha) to organize the day in a way which we actually would enjoy it with them too. We also were careful to not fill the day with so much that we felt overwhelmed or ended up dreading doing parts of it as we did a previous year. Overall I think this year was a success. The boys have been asking everyday when it was going to be nye again haha. Here is a peek of some of our fun...

my story of our day of fun. 

our balloons. 

some of the balloons dropped by morning haha but these boys did not care the least bit, they were so excited. 

the first balloon of the day. filled with confetti ;)  

the first activity was building their own "2017" out of cinnamon rolls. I had aprons and chef hats left over from Dylans birthday party that I decorated with their names the night before. I gave them each a cookie sheet and set out some sprinkles we already had in the cupboard. I bought them each their own container of cinnamon rolls along with some festive napkins and plates from target.

ready to get creative. 

naturally we joined int he fun too. ayden was all about making the biggest circle possible while dylan was making little men characters.

a little something sweet is fun but mom is not that fun haha.  eggs and apples for breakfast while waiting for the cinnamon rolls to bake. 

time to decorate...and sample;) 

the next balloon. 9am.

"now lets find something suitable to wear today, actually lets make something. Decorate your own shirt for our day of fun." 

Dylan is super into art right now so this was one of his favorite activities for sure. 

Ayden was so cute trying to make his look like dylan with the sun and people.

all finished! So cute! They worked really hard on these. 

Next balloon was popped! "Hop in the car you are headed someplace to get all those wiggles out and for lunch...a ninja turtle favorite. Can you guess?" we have a slight ninja turtle obsession around here can you tell? haha

They have arrived! sporting their custom-made tee shirts.

This is place is so fun. I highly recommend. We went to a birthday party here and knew that we had to come back. 

So.

much. 

fun. 

ninja turtle favorite is pizza;) lunch has arrived. Romp o Rama has a super yummy pizza place next door. You can order pizza and they will bring it to you. 

we all loved that grandma and pa meet us at romp o rama for some play time and lunch!

the whole gang. 

we had grandma read the next clue after dylan popped the next balloon in the car. 

It was raining but it really added a fun cozy feel to the day. 

the next clue lead us to build a bear in downtown disney.  This was aydens first time and dylan was here when he was too little to remember even coming. 

yep they picked ninja turtles haha

I put together a little movie snack bucket filled some of their favorite candy I never allow them to have so it was definitly  a fun treat for them. 

we saw the movie Sing. SO cute! we have been listening to the soundtrack pretty much everyday since. 

after the movies it was back to the car. dinner time! 

ok so our original idea was to eat at the packing district because aaron and I love it and have been wanting to take the boys for a while now, unfortunately when we arrived all of the food places were closed! We ended up at el torito down the street, but it was all good because we are obsessed with the table side guacamole. 

The next balloon took us back home for a silly string battle. And this fun activity took many hours to clean up the next day haha. 

showers and a little karaoke before...

our last balloon!

sparkling red grape juice in special glasses;) 

And this is for all the parents with young kids that would like their kids to go closer to their bedtime;) Netflix has a bunch of character themed nye countdowns that you can play at any time. Our goal was 10pm this year but ended up in bed closer to 11pm.

It was a fun night and I was happy to see other friends join in the fun with their families this year. Happy new year!!