Steven's Snowy Snoopy Birthday Party

“Since Steven’s 7th Birthday (and the peak of his affection for all things Snoopy) coincided with the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the movie “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” it was easy to choose a theme for Steven’s birthday party this year. Steven and his Papa (my dad) love to build and plan together, and they started early in preparation for the Snoopy party. On one Saturday, they built and painted Snoopy’s house and Lucy’s psychology stand, with working Christmas lights and everything!

Papa’s Park is always the perfect venue for a kids’ party, complete with zip-line, playhouse, jungle-gym, and spinning ride . . . but we kept the faux snow a secret from Steven until just a day ahead of time. The snow really made the whole backyard a realistic winter wonderland! The kids had a blast throwing snowballs, dumping snow on each other, and sliding around in it. The falling snow (snow bubble solution) brought renewed excitement every time Papa started it up again. These Southern California kids don’t see a lot of snow, and this was a typical winter day in San Diego . . . sixty-eight degrees.

For lunch, along with pizza, we enjoyed “Thanksgiving leftovers” (inspired by “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving”): popcorn, pretzel sticks, jelly beans, and toast. Custom-made Peanuts character cookies by the amazing Mike Harness of 828 Bakes were the highlight of the dessert table, along with a cake with a real Charlie Brown Christmas tree and some fun cupcakes.

The piñata was filled with Christmas candy and Peanuts themed toys (thank you, Oriental Trading Company!), and each child also got to make a bag of his or her own snow to take home. It was so much fun to see their faces when the instant snow turned from a salt-like consistency into “real” snow when water was added.”

• What People Ate

  "Thanksgiving leftovers" - popcorn, pretzel sticks, jelly beans, and toast. Also -- Little Caesar's pizza, vegetable platter.

• What People Drank

  Water, soda, juice.

• Desserts

  Custom cookies from 828 Bakes (www.facebook.com/828Bakes), Cake with Charlie Brown Christmas tree, cupcakes with fun toppers.

• Party Favors

  Pinata with Snoopy goodies (stress balls, tattoos) and Christmas candy.

• Activities / Games

  SNOW!! Making snow, pinata, playing in the snow.