Today we celebrated my grandpa's 90th birthday! We had his party at the library here in town. They have a really big community room that we've used for several big group gatherings. I think it's pretty affordable for the size, too.
My mom and sister did most of the planning and decor. I printed the invitations and mailing labels, printed 600 pieces of confetti (images printed on cardstock and die-cut in 2" and 1" sizes with my Cricut), and the water bottle labels that I printed on glossy sticker paper and laminated. I've learned that I do NOT like putting labels on water bottles. LOL! The difficult part is trying to get them on straight...it was a lot more difficult than I anticipated. :P Luckily my mom came over on Thursday and helped me get all the labels on there. Then yesterday my mom and sister set up a lot of the decorations. There were a lot of backdrops, balloons, and centerpiece decorations. There was also a table set up for the guestbook, multiple tables that had display boards with photos behind photos that were laid out on the table, and several tables set up for the food. We had meat and sides from Hog Wild as well as sandwiches, wraps, and fruit trays from McAlisters.
It was a WSU themed party. My grandpa graduated from there and they attend a lot of their sporting events. We requested that everyone where yellow and black for pictures...and there were a lot of people in WSU gear! We'd gone to a local sports store on Monday and got Johnny a hoodie and a ball cap. Most of my WSU apparel (I also graduated from WSU) is pretty old and ratty looking...but mom had a hoodie that she got in a size smaller than she likes wearing, so I wore that. It was super soft and comfy so...now it's mine. ;)
We were able to get some new family pictures...much like we did when we had grandma and grandpa's anniversary party in 2021. We were able to get a large group family photo as well.
We also had a surprise guest! My sister--who *hates* people in full-body costumes that cover their head--was able to get the WSU mascot, Wu, to make an appearance. :) It was really neat and the guy did a great job. Naturally...his energy was like that from a sporting event...but in a much quieter room with about 40 people. My sister was battling anxiety...but I was battling autism. lol. As a neurodivergent person...I'm very uncomfortable with awkward silence. I already don't like when people don't keep up their side of the conversation...and Wu doesn't talk, he pantomimes. Yeah...I don't know what to do with that. lol. But he did a great job. My sister's friend who is a photographer was there to take photos...and she had Wu walk around the room and kinda photo bomb people. It was cute. And Wu also signed the guestbook which I thought was really cool. He walked around looking at the pictures and admiring the decorations (like...pointing them out and clapping or giving a thumbs up, etc). So it was just really neat to have him there.
We stayed to clean up after the party. I was wiped out from printing and cutting all the confetti last night and then waking up early and helping load stuff...so I actually ended up taking a nap after I got home. :P I think tomorrow I'm going to take the day off and just relax. I do have some orders that I need to work on, but it shouldn't take too long to get done before I go to bed tomorrow so they can go out in the mail Monday. :)