Birthday Party or Birthday Outing?

VS. 

Do kids really need a birthday party to be happy? I have been seeing families trending away from birthday parties and towards birthday outings or vacations instead, but my kids have consistently wanted a party.  Usually I just take the kids to a fast food place with a play area and treat everyone to kids meals.  Last year we went all out and rented a party room with inflatables.  But after yesterday I am thinking they would have had just as much fun or more on a Birthday outing!

This year my nephew Logan turned 7 and instead of having a birthday party we decided to go on a birthday outing.  We started the morning at a Cub Scout pinewood derby workshop (more on that in a the next post) and then we went to downtown Roanoke for lunch and to see some art. 

On the way to lunch we got to check out the Pedestrian Bridge and even stand over a train as it drove under us.  ((The kids thought that was especially cool.))

I thought that the artwork above the escalators was especially awesome.  If you've never noticed this make sure you look up next time you go on the escalators.

This piece of art is called "Beneath the Roundhouse" by Edwin White. He got his start in Staunton, VA doing silk screening and worked in a variety of fields before coming full circle back to an artist. To see the process behind this sculpture from studio to installation check out his website here!

Once we were done exploring the pedestrian bridge we set off to find food.  We stopped at the food court first, but it is not what it used to be and did not have the variety we were looking for.  A quick check  with Google and we were headed towards a local Pizza Place called Benny's to have a 28" pizza.  It was so big that the 9 of us could't even finish it off and we had to take a couple of pieces home.  Overall, it was a good lunch, with a huge variety of drinks to go with it, but I was slightly disappointed that they didn't offer more toppings.
       
After everyone was full we took a short walk over to the Taubman Art Museum and enjoyed free admission to the galleries for Spectacular Saturdays.  There was a $5 fee for each of the kids to explore Art Venture and be able to check out this month's activities which focused on the Color Wheel this month.   The kids enjoyed the stage and putting on their own play, and joining the adults to draw with dry erase crayons, put color swirls in clay, paint with warm colors, do pattern puzzles, and more...

   

Then we went back out to the Foyer to look at a special display by Rachel B Hayes that used light and color in a most spectacular way...


  ...By positioning her quilts just right she is able to capture the Sun's light throughout the day and the colors projected onto the floor and walls move around as the Sun makes its way across the sky each day! ...  The kids all took the opportunity to draw their version of a light quilt and show it to the attendants at the front desk for a small prize and then we moved upstairs to the galleries to see what they had to offer....


The kids really liked the handbags from the Judith Leiber handbags and wanted keepsake pictures of their favorites! 

   

We finished off Logan's birthday outing with a trip to DQ for ice cream cones and presents before wrapping up the day. I think it turned out to be a great time and it was much better than the disappointment of throwing a party and not having a good turn-out. Plus it was a lot more fun for me and a lot less work.