A Swimingly Good Step

The heat is on here in Chicago and across much of the country. My next birthday inspiration has a way to keep cool in the hot hot sun while still having fun for the little one's birthday. This is one, my "little fish" would surely love, hope his parents will too.



You can rent out a local swim center, if the majority of the kids are little see if you can rent out a wading pool instead. Fill the pool area with lots of beach balls and some blow up fish (tried and true Oriental Trader is a good place to find these). The majority of your time will be spent in the pool so games or crafts are not neccessary.
Chicago Pools:
1. Hayes Park, (312)745-2200
2. Hamlin Park, (312)742-7785
3. Holstein Park, (312)742-7554
or if you are a member East Bank Club (eastbankclub.com) has a kids pool as well.

For table decorations (for the gift table and the food table) hang fish netting around the tables, you can place blue table cloth underneath for an ocean look, then place plastic crabs, lobsters and seashells throughout table. You can once again keep food simple for this party; have "Octopus Hot Dogs" - make these by slicing a hot dog in four or more(depending on how many tenticles you want), but not all the way through, then boil it until the ends curl up, serve fresh fruit in sand pails and use the shovel for a spoon, and "Oceanade" fruit punch (get blue fruit punch and freeze ice cubes in a fish shaped ice tray, you can add food coloring to give the fish life).

Send kids home with their own sand pail (you can personalize each pail with the child's name, with t-shirt paint), a beach ball, some Goldfish, gummy sharks, and kiddy sunglasses (all inside the sand pail).

Photos From:(top to bottom, left to right) lestout.com, seriouseats.com, celebrate-it.com, tickledpinkpaper.com, flickr.com, bellyfeathers.com, cgi.ebay.com, annabellsattic.com, and associatedcontent.com