My two kids are both March babies – with their birthdays landing just a week apart. I admit. This year, those birthdays really snuck up on me! How are Rowan and Lucas 3 and 5 years old already? The thought of planning two birthday parties back to back seemed especially daunting this year, so I tried to think of things the kids would both enjoy and where we could invite a lot of friends and their families.

March in Ottawa isn’t the easiest month to plan a party. The weather isn’t warm yet, so a backyard birthday celebration is out of the question (and our house is just too small to host a bunch of kids). But, it’s not that lovely snowy, wintery weather anymore either, so it’s generally not possible to go skating on an outdoor rink or tobogganing. It has to be an indoor option.

This year I decided to rent out an ice arena from the City of Ottawa. Did you know the city has last minute ice deals? It’s a pretty great deal. If you book within a two week period you can get a significant discount on the price. To look into last minute ice you can click HERE.  You can select your desired day, time and what arena you would like to use.  I booked on a Sunday afternoon at Tom Brown Arena, and this way we could invite anyone we wanted with no limit on numbers.

Adults and kids laced up their blades for an hour long skate. Skating aids and strollers were allowed on the ice, and there was certainly a wide range of skill levels – but I think everyone was having fun!

My daughter Rowan got tired of skating after a while and decided crawling on the ice was the better way to get around. I’m no expert skater myself, so I guess I can’t blame her.

Rowan packed it in half way through our time and went to enjoy hot chocolate and marshmallows off the ice. The girl has her priorities. My son Lucas, however, stayed on the ice skating with his friends for the entire time (so I will consider it a win).

It was really fun seeing all of our different friends and their kids gliding around the ice. For some, it was even their first time!

After our hour of skating was up, everyone headed to the tables and seating area out in the foyer of Tom Brown Arena. The City of Ottawa had assured me it wouldn’t be a problem to bring in food into the arena. So, it was hot chocolate and cake for everyone!

My daughter Rowan had requested a unicorn cake for her birthday. I did my best. After spending considerable time perusing cakes on Pinterest I was feeling a little intimidated. So many of the Pinterest worthy unicorn cakes were these amazing (and impossible looking) tiered, fondant covered masterpieces with gold dusted horns and cascading flower manes. Ummmm nope, my skill only goes so far. I decided to attempt this fun, but still very do-able unicorn cake design. I’m happy with how it came out, and it tasted really good! (I always get my cake recipes from Sally’s Baking Addiction , this one was her Funfetti sheet cake).

My dear friend Liz, who always makes awesome cakes, volunteered to help me and be in charge of making Luke’s cake. He requested a Pokemon cake, so Liz created this awesomeness. The chocolate Pokeball cake was a big hit. Especially that Kit Kat border!

In total, I think we had nearly 50 friends join us for the skating birthday party. It was really nice to not have to limit the number of invites. We just had to make sure there was lots of cake! It got a little bit hectic with everyone enjoying their cake and running around in the foyer. This was especially true as two hockey teams showed up for their game right after our ice time. But what kids birthday party isn’t a little crazy?

For party favours I had employed the help of Tanya from Sweet Treatz Bakery. Tanya lives over on the westside of Ottawa, and she just makes the most fabulous cookies. I ordered a bunch of unicorn themed mini cookies and Pokemon themed cookies. The kids and I packaged them into pairs for each child to take home. Aren’t they amazing?

In lieu of getting gifts from their friends, my kids collected donations for Roger Neilson House instead. Our family has recently benefited from the bereavement services offered by Roger’s House, and now Lucas and Rowan can take in the $300 their birthday party raised. They are so proud, it’s pretty awesome.

Cake, hot chocolate and the cookie party favours were really the only things I had to organize for this party. It was about as simple as they come. I would certainly look into doing a “last-minute ice” birthday party again. And if you want suggestions for other birthday party ideas, check out my previous post on some of Ottawa’s best spots to host a kid’s birthday.