This post has been sponsored by Kona Ice®. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

How great are summer birthdays? Outdoor parties are the best! Luckily for us, there are a few summer birthdays that we celebrate between our family and friends each year. Ever since Gavin started going to sleep-away camp 3 years ago, I’ve been hosting a PRE-Summer Birthday Gathering for everyone to get together since he’s no longer in town to party over the summer.

This June for our first summer birthday celebration, I gathered Gavin’s friends to celebrate his bestie’s birthday as well as his brother's! Luke turns 7 on July 6th and Gavin will be at camp during the big bash that we’re hosting.

For this special celebration, we opened the pool up for the kids to swim for the afternoon and I planned a movie screening in the backyard. I set up tents on top of blankets with tons of pillows, homemade signs and popcorn for everyone to enjoy under the stars. I also decorated the screen itself with a brightly colored balloon garland to make it look extra festive.

As an exciting treat and a total surprise to the kids, I had the Kona Ice® of LI South Shore Truck pull up right into our driveway, against the backyard, for the kids to enjoy SHAVED ICE! Not only was it refreshing but also a nutritious treat. Since Kona Ice is sweetened with all-natural Stevia & contains 40% less sugar than a regular snow cone, I really didn’t feel bad letting the kids try flavor after flavor. John, who owns the truck, was serving the shaved ice to the kids, and they were able to choose use the Flavorwave on the side of the truck to flavor their ice as it came straight off the truck! It was incredible, and each child was more excited than the next to come up with their own delicious and colorful combination.

This summer, you can party like us and have the coolest birthday on the block! Find and book a Kona Ice truck near you on their website.

We were also treated to some specialty Kona Krafted flavors like Watermelon Mint and Lavender Lemonade, which were a huge hit amongst the adults! Both flavors were so refreshing and delicious.

While John was busy making snow cones, he also managed to hand out a lei to each and every one of us—which was so nice and made for adorable photos.

Once the kids had loaded up on shaved ice and tried every flavor under the sun, they settled in on the blankets as we waited for the sun to go down and the movie screening to begin.

Needless to say, this was a pretty fabulous birthday party. If my children had it their way, the Kona Ice truck would show up in our driveway every weekend!