Birthday Party

On Saturday, we had a Birthday party for that 11 year old of ours. She invited her friends from school and the neighbors down the street. Everyone was here for 3 hours and as far as I can tell, had a blast. (thank you very much....no applause, just money)

After a minor fiasco about the jumper situation, all was well. We had 2.....yes 2.....jumpers. One was a climbing/sliding jumper and the other was a plain old jumper. The sliding one was a bigger hit, though it was thought it wouldn't be. It did look a little childish from the outside.....it had a truck design....but once they were in it, no one noticed and had more fun trying to play in it than looking at it. I think in 5th grade there's still that element of little kid in them, but I'm sure that will change next year. And most of Ashlee's friends still have that dorkyness about them. (so do her parents) Thank goodness for kind friends with jumper businesses that loan for free!

So here's everyone who was here ...

Here's the "hot present" game. It's played just like hot potato, but with a present that's been wrapped in multiple layers of wrapping paper/boxes/tissue paper, etc.. Each time the music stops, the person holding it unwraps ONE layer and around it goes again. The last layer unwrapped reveals the present and that person wins it. I wrapped the present 13 times and when they got to the box, it was another box wrapped 5 more times and then the actual present. A journal with cool gel pens.....the girl who won was really excited and the others wanted one too.


Then there was the bubble wrap game. After 2 practice runs, the real game was on. Walk across the bubble wrap without popping any bubbles and you get back in line to go again. Last person left wins. There were 3 girls left and 2 didn't make it across again without popping. So the last girl won.......even though she didn't walk across again......she was the last one left, she won. (we discussed this at length after the fact while the girls jumped before the next game)(my party planning, my rules....nah, nah)

The ever so popular treasure hunt. Only this year was done with picture clues instead of rhyming clues. I thought it went well, until Jessi's friend got trampled in a doorway in the quest to get the next clue. Then it became a walking turn taking treasure hunt. One girl still bumped her head on the swingset by coming up from under it too soon. She was ok. All that excitement for a to-go-box of candy......sugar rush!

The final game was the whip cream game. This was the most fun for the girls and had them smelling whip cream afterwards! A flat piece of bubble gum on a paper plate is hidden by whipping cream all over the plate. They can't use their hands and the first one to find their gum piece wins.....we had a 3 way tie! If you play this game make sure to put the gum in various places on the plate, not just the middle. Makes it harder and more fun to watch!

Shortly after the party was over, Nani showed up to see the birthday girl.

All in all, there was so much fun to be had. Both girls even got to have one friend spend the night. Not a bad deal for either one I think! Though I have to say, next year will be a little calmer because she'll be in 6th grade and the interests will change and I'm thinking that 2-3 friends and a movie or special place to eat or somewhere she wants to go will be enough. I may be surprised......she may still be a little kid then too.......only for a short while longer!