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Each boy get their own little party with just us on their actually birthday. Then they get a big family party together....AND....they each get their own parties with their friends.

That's FIVE parties in ONE month!!!

The little parties on their birthdays are just that....little. It's just whatever dinner they want, cake, ice cream and a few presents from mom and dad. For our oldest, Ashton, he will also take cupcakes or something like that to school with him that day to have a class party.

The family party is pretty big. So big, that we don't even try to have it at our house anymore. With 20 people in our immediate family...our house just cannot handle it. So, now the family parties are at my moms house. 

And, lastly, we have the kids parties with their friends. This will be the first year Colton - who's turning 4 - will have a party with his friends. He'll have 4 of his playmates over to play some games and eat cake. Ashton - who will be 9 - wanted to have a sleepover/Wii party. So, we'll have seven boys spending the night later on in the month. That should be interesting...

Anyways, so with my family - everyone always wants gift ideas for the boys. For Christmas I told them Hot Wheels, Nike stuff for Ashton, any type of cars or "boy" stuff....they'd love it all. 

This Christmas was craziness. The boys got way too much STUFF. Between Chris and I...and the rest of my family it's too much. And, my mom went over board this year. My dad passed away earlier this year, so I think she bought more then usual. 

I started thinking about ideas to send out to the family and was stuck on anything that the boys actually NEEDED. Nothing at all came to mind. 

Then I thought about some experiences that they would enjoy...going to the movies, going bowling, taking a trip to a museum! They would love all of that!

Gifts of experience! I love this idea!

Hopefully, my family will also think it's a great idea - because I'm not sure where else I would put any more stuff! So, if you have a child's birthday coming up soon, think about an experience gift they might like.

Here are some more ideas:

-Movie tickets, you can buy tickets through Fandango

- Gift certificate to a local bowling alley

- Tickets to a museum

-Gift certificate to a place like Pump-It-Up

- Bookstore gift certificates...most parents don't think of books as "stuff"

- Gift card to a local kids themed restaurant

- Zoo Memberships...or tickets for a day

-Redbox gift cards and movie candy

- Tickets to the local skating rink

- Event tickets (local baseball team, ect)

- Theater tickets

- Amusement Park tickets

- Laser tag gift cards

- The "experience" of going to McDonalds or Burger King (my kids don't get to go very often, so would love this one!)