Jonah's Foodie 13th Birthday Party

As much as I love themed birthday parties, I've learned that a 13 year-old boy doesn't particularly care so long as there's fun, good food, and friends & family. So this party for our new teenager was vibrant, colorful and festive. And he loved it.  =)

Jonah is often in the kitchen with me because he loves to cook and bake yummy things. And eat them of course!

 It didn't surprise me at all when he began requesting special things like gourmet vanilla cupcakes with vanilla bean frosting and decadent chocolate cake with fudge frosting. He loved all the treats at his birthday party last year, which honestly, I kind of wish I'd saved until this year for his big 13th, but I guess you live and learn.

So here are some pictures of his gourmet birthday treats. They were so, so good!

Hands down The Best Vanilla Cupcake I have ever eaten. Ever.

I adapted the recipe ever so slightly from a baking blog...I'll have to share.

The whipped frosting was equally fantastic - I could have eaten it straight from the bowl!

I really don't think a fun and great looking birthday party needs to be expensive. There are tons of clever little things you can do to add color and festiveness, and I always have balloons. Balloons just add so much!

The birthday boy also requested my special salsa, so we had that and some dips with tortilla chips and pretzels. Easy, cheap and yummy!

I loved making labels for the water at Caleb's Spy Party, so I did that for this party as well. They looked great.

These are very similar to the birthday signs I made for Ethan's 13th birthday party - they're so colorful and add a nice touch, and super easy to make a bunch. I just taped the signs to pieces of colorful card stock, then taped those to the walls and doors.

And of course another staple at our guys' birthday parties are making messes and/or exploding things.

Here are good ol' Mentos and Coke. Classic.

And it never disappoints, ha

It was a great day! I know he felt celebrated and special, and since that was the whole point, it was a success! 

I really wanted to get a picture of the birthday boy with each of his friends and relatives...but there is always such commotion that it just never happened.

Happy 13th Birthday, Jonah Gabriel!