Ashton's 7th Birthday

I can't believe my little boy is 7 - where has the time gone?  Ashton is really into books, he loves to listen to audiobooks in the car (even with his little brother yelling "I hate Percy Jackson and Harry Potter!).  He always has a book in his had about some wild creature.  He loves to be with friends and cousins.  He is sooo social.  His teacher's only comment at parent/teacher conference (on his birthday) was that he talks way too much.  She said his ahead of the average for his age and is doing very well.  He is very good at helping the kids who are struggling and is very sweet.  I love that about my son.  He really enjoys golfing with his papa and shooting bows (archery) with his dad.  He is a big tease and love to have fun.  The day he was born  was a rough entrance into the world , but he has been a blessing ever since.  We love you Ashton!

We do friend party's about every 4 years and it was time for Ashton to have one this year. He chose Harry Potter for his theme and I was really excited because there are so many ideas out there. He hasn't stopped talking about it for months. We invited the neighborhood boys and were really lucky to find out that one of them has a Harry Potter Halloween party every year and offered to let us borrow some of their things.

When the boys arrived we first visited Olivander's wand shop and each boy recieved a wand, text books and a ticket to ride Hogwart's train.  We then went through the 9 3/4 platform to the downstairs where each boy was sorted into a Hogwart's house.  Ashton first got Slytherin, but then there was an extra Gryffindor at the end so I let him trade - it was his birthday afterall.  After the sorting we went outside for Defense Against the Dark Arts, where the boys learned to use their wands.

Once they had the wands down we moved on to Potions class.  This was a huge hit!  I found this really fun "potions" experiment with baking soda, vinegar, water and different colored baking soda.  So the potion first boiled up and turned blue, then with the rest of the ingredients turned green.  They really thought it was cool.

 After potions we played a "first years" version of capture the Snitch.  The boys flew around on their broomsticks looking for the gold ball.  Ashton happened to be the one to find it (with out cheating)!  We also had a bouncy house that Aaron's friend let us borrow so the boys finished the game with that.  It was super fun, but of course I didn't get any pictures cause that's my M.O.
 

To end the party everyone got to take a trip to Honeyduke's candy shop and fill up their treat bags with Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Lemon Drops, Licorice Wands, Chocolate Frogs, a cupcake and a mug of Butterbeer.  Ashton had an amazing day and was really happy and gracious.  We love that little man!