Our Five Ring Circus: Liam and Lily's 4th & 6th Combined Birthday Party

Monday, August 28, 2017

Liam and Lily's 4th & 6th Combined Birthday Party

Gender Neutral Birthday Party for a Boy and a Girl

DISCLOSURE: I received some of the party supplies shown in this post complimentary.

Lily and Liam's birthdays are just two weeks apart, so every year we throw them a big combined birthday party! This year, we only had one free Saturday in a 3 month span, so we had to scale things down a bit. On Saturday, we hosted two very small birthday parties to celebrate Liam's 4th Birthday and Lily's 6th Birthday!


Combined Gender Neutral Birthday Party for Siblings

{Birthday Shirts - Cat & Jack at Target}

A combined birthday party doesn't work for every family, but Lily is still agreeable, so we stick with it! I'm sure our family and friends appreciate the fact that they don't have to come to two birthday parties in August, too. We go big for actual birthdays, so both Lily and Liam still have their extra special days.

Usually, we have one big combined birthday party for Lily and Liam, but the timing was off this year. Thanks to school starting a week earlier than usual, which is the week we go to the beach, we had to adjust our schedule. We only had one available Saturday in July, August or September to celebrate Lily and Liam's birthdays with our family and friends.

Instead of the big party that we usually host, we only invited immediate family members to an afternoon party and our closest friends to an evening party. The party happened less than a week after we returned from vacation and two days after school started, so planning had to be minimal. Since there was a very limited guest list, we skipped the individual themes this year and just went with festive, gender neutral party decor!

Although the party was a lot different from what we usually host, Lily and Liam didn't even seem to notice the difference. They both had a great day with family and friends!

The first birthday party was in the afternoon. Our immediate family members joined us so we could all celebrate Liam and Lily's birthdays together! 


We kicked off the party with presents! Lily and Liam took turns opening their awesome gifts, and they loved everything. Since we celebrated Liam's 4th Birthday at the beach, we could only give him small gifts that could travel easily with us. We saved his two big gifts for the party!

Combined Gender Neutral Birthday Party for Siblings

6th Birthday Party

Combined Gender Neutral Birthday Party for Siblings

Combined Gender Neutral Birthday Party for Siblings

(Just look at those dirty little feet holding his present!)

Combined Gender Neutral Birthday Party for Siblings

Combined Gender Neutral Birthday Party for Siblings

The kids ran off to play while the adults talked, then we finished the party with the Happy Birthday Song and some cake and ice cream! It's always Liam's favorite part!

Combined Gender Neutral Birthday Party for Siblings

The first round of guests headed out just before dinner, so we had a few hours in between parties. I straightened up the house while the girls played with their cousin, who was spending the night, and Dylan hung out with a friend. Liam happily dug into his new gifts with his new best buddy!

Down syndrome blogs

Meanwhile, the older kids found an awesome friend outside!

Praying Mantis

Praying Mantis

Finally, it was time for round two! I really slacked with pictures this year, but for good reason. After two birthdays, three photoshoots, a family reunion, our beach vacation and the first day of school, I literally have a painful callus on my thumb from taking so many pictures! (Plus, I wanted to enjoy the party instead of documenting every second!


We did the usual presents and cake routine, but since our best friends were here, the kids spent more time playing, so I didn't chase them with the camera. I can assure you that they had lots of fun!

Combined Gender Neutral Birthday Party for Siblings

Combined Gender Neutral Birthday Party for Siblings

{Liam's Shirt - The Hairbow Company}

Combined Gender Neutral Birthday Party for Siblings

Combined Gender Neutral Birthday Party for Siblings

Combined Gender Neutral Birthday Party for Siblings


Our friends stayed very late, and the party concluded with a sleepover. A cousin and two friends spent the night, so the fun continued until the wee hours of the morning!

Even though the party was much smaller than usual, it turned out so well! I was so worried that the kids would miss their themes and all the guests, but the gender neutral decor was just fine and they had so much fun with the family and friends who were there.


All In The Cards New York Party Supplies Available at Target

Birthday Party Treat Cups - All In The Cards New York available at Target #sponsored

The paper table runner, paper placemats and treat cups are from All In The Cards. Their affordable line of party supplies can be found at Target. (And you all know how much I love Target!) I loved the fun, festive colors and prints, and at the end of the party, I just rolled everything up and threw it away!

We kept the food simple, too. The parties fell before and after dinner, so we had snacks and appetizers. Lots of chips and dips, cut vegetables, and cheese and crackers. And no party would be complete without one of the kids favorite snacks: Teddy Graham Trail Mix! It's just Teddy Grahams, mini marshmallows and chocolate chips, and kids love it!

Treat Cups from All In The Cards New York - Available at Target #sponsored

My mom usually makes each child a cake, but didn't have enough time this year. A small combined birthday cake (with Down syndrome awareness balloons) and mini cupcakes was plenty!

Combined Gender Neutral Birthday Party for Siblings

Saturday's simple combined birthday party proved that parties don't have to be big and fancy in order to be fun! Lily and Liam had so much fun celebrating their 6th and 4th birthdays with a few of the people they love most!


Combined Gender Neutral Birthday Party for Siblings

A Combined Gender Neutral Birthday Party for Siblings

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11 comments:

  1. We had a combined party once for ages 2 and 4. It was cute. Your kids seem to have loved this one!

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  2. So sweet, I love it! You did a great job Mama!

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  3. Happy birthday to the both of them. Looks like they had a good one.

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  4. I would TOTALLY combine parties if I could get away with it. It is so much easier on mama and family. Looks like they had a blast!

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  5. In our family, we have the larger family combined parties- 2 nieces and my mom span 3 days of bdays (Poor Gran, sandwiched in between the girls), so July finds us with one big one. Then the youngest nephew (bday today!) gets his own, but my son and next up nephew and I are within 3 weeks of each other, so there's usually one beginning October...Nobody minds - it's just that many more cake options!

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  6. Awe! Happy Birthday to them both!

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  7. Happy birthday to Liam and Lily!! I didn't realize they are only two years apart. It looks like they had a wonderful time. Can I have some of that Teddy Graham Trail Mix here?

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  8. Such a cute idea for a sibling birthday party. Your daughter looks like mine, very expressive :)

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  9. looks like there was lots of fun at the combined birthday
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  10. I did the 2 parties in one day before too and it actually worked out so well, I was surprised LOL! Love that they both still celebrate together!

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