Gotta Catch Them All

Another birthday party and the theme was an easy one for my soon-to-be 7-year-old...Pokemon!  We had fun crafting up the pinata and bags, decorations, and snacks!  I always like to get my boys involved in organizing their party.  

 We went a little crazy with the "Pokeball" theme, but it was an easy shape to recreate with the pinata and snack trays!  The pinata took some advance preparation, but it was worth it!  He was so excited to tell his friends he made his own pinata!  Here are the directions: http://mrsodaniels.blogspot.com/2015/01/kaos-defeated-skylanders-party.html?m=1

Pinata Please!

All this Birthday boy wanted was a pinata!  We've made pinatas in the past, but this year we gave in a bought one!  In case you want to make your own, here are directions:  http://mrsodaniels.blogspot.com/2015/01/kaos-defeated-skylanders-party.html?m=1
I had my son make the bags to hold the loot,  We chose Chewbacca to go with the Star Wars theme. It was an easy project and he enjoyed making them for his party.

 I made his cake.  9" round cake and whipped cream icing.  For the Storm Trooper, I printed out a design I found online, taped wax paper on top, melted chocolate chips, and put in a small Ziploc bag.  Cut the tip off one corner and squeeze out the chocolate on the design.  Put in freezer until firm and placed on top of the cake!

We also did the Lightsaber pool noodles.  They were a "hit" too!

Where Does the Time Go??

It was has been a busy past couple of weeks as we moved to be closer to family.  It has been great.  The best part was celebrating our son's 3rd birthday with cousins and grandparents.
The entertainment was our cousin's new puppy and of course, the birthday cake!
Happy Birthday...We love you!

I made the cake from 2 round 9" circle pans and cut a small slice off the bottom to connect to the second round cake.  After icing, I sprinkled crushed chocolate Joe-Joe cookies (from Trader Joes) into the "3" shape.  Lined with M&M's.  Added white icing to make the lines on the road and added race cars to top it off!  Vrooom....it was delicious!

Trap Team Birthday

 For the second year in a row, my son wanted a Skylanders party.  Last year was Swap Force http://mrsodaniels.blogspot.com/2014/02/swappable-unstoppablecelebrating-shays.html?m=0  This year was Trap Team.  We started the party outside and played a couple games.

In the first game, the kids had to knock down the bottles to "release the trapped Skylanders".  One person had to keep the bottles from being knocked down by the incoming balls thrown by the players in the other ring.  It was exciting.  They took turns being the trapped person and the guard.

This game was inspired by the Trapmaster, Gusto.  The kids had to see who could keep the balloon off the ground the longest.  In the second round, they could not use their hands.
The next game (not pictured here), was Chompie Smash.  We played it last year and had to do it again.  I blew up about 30 balloons and the kids had to smash the balloons, anyway they wanted.  Loud, but fun!

Next was the scavenger hunt.  Each kid got glow sticks as their light element.  Then a map of the neighborhood and clues.  Each location had something to do with an element or character and a goodie to put in their bag.

For dinner, they had " Hot Dogs" and "Small Fries", based on the character names.
  The cake was supposed to look like the portal, but close enough.  When my son blew out the candles, we placed a new trap character on the cake as a surprise.

Finally, they had to Defeat Kaos!  We made the piñata and filled it with bubble gum, chocolate gold coins, and small prizes.  Directions here: http://mrsodaniels.blogspot.com/2015/01/kaos-defeated-skylanders-party.html?m=1
While they waited for their parents, we had a dance party inside with a disco ball.  The party was a success!!!

Happy Birthday!!!!

Kaos Defeated - Skylanders Party Pinata

The things we do for our kids!  For the second year in a row, my son wanted a Skylanders themed birthday party.  Having to come up with some new, exciting ideas, we decided a great way to end the party was to DEFEAT Kaos (the main villain).  What better way, than smashing a piñata.
Thinking this would be a great bonding experience, I found myself doing the messy part.  The project was simple, just glad I started a week in advance to give the paper mache layers time to dry.  I did one layer a night - 4 layers of newspaper and the final layer was white copy paper.  The pinata lasted 9 kids,  3 hits each before it broke!!

 Here is the punch balloon we covered.  Torn pieces of newspaper dipped in a mixture of flour and water.

 After the final layer (white copy paper), we painted it skin color.

  My husband had fun drawing Kaos' face.  It turned out perfect.  We cut a hole in the top and filled it with goodies.  Then we made two holes and strung ribbon through to hang up.

It was a "hit"...the kids loved it!  More party highlights here: http://mrsodaniels.blogspot.com/2015/01/trap-team-birthday.html?m=1

Swappable, Unstoppable...Celebrating Shay's 6th Birthday

Passports

Swappable, UnStoppable! Without a doubt, this year’s birthday theme would be Shay-Force Adventures after his new favorite video game Skylander, Swap Force.  I immediately looked on Pinterest to find party ideas and mainly found Skylander Giants theme.  So I used some things I found and created other ideas to make it an action packed birthday for his 6 best buddies!

Invites: I sent out an evite using a SwapForce image I found online and wrote: Young Portal Master,

Your presence is requested for Shay's Skylanders Swap Force Adventure.  Come celebrate his sixth birthday and help us restore the core of light as you master the elements.

Pizza and cake will be served.  We will not be playing the video game, but will be recreating "special" adventures.

Activities:  Thank you to my husband and his Photoshop skills, he created a “passport” with the 8 elements and Shay-Force Adventures logo for each guest.  We played 8 games to represent the elements.  After each game/mission, the boys had to return to the starting point and get their passport checked off.  If they worked as a team and complete each mission they would “level-up” and receive their grand prize.

1. Boom Jet Rocket - I make 2 beanbag "rockets" that they had to throw them into a hula hoop. Everyone had to make it into a hoop and earned points depending on which hoop it landed in. Once they earned the points, they returned to the starting location and got their passport checked off.

2. Chompie Stomp - I blew up around 30 balloons and put them into large boxes. We had two rounds. When the balloons were released, the boys had to pop the balloons. It was hilarious to watch. Some kids sat on them while others stepped on them. Once all the balloons were popped, they had to collect ALL the broken pieces and throw them away before they got their next check on their passport.

3. Hunt for Tree-Rex - The boys went on a hunt for Tree-Rex. I left clues which led them to the next location. At the end, Tree-Rex was hidden in a tree with gold chocolate coins. They "leveled-up" and got their coin and another check on their passport.

4. Pin the Eye on Eye Brawl - Thank you to my husband for creating this game

5. Ice Block Smash - I froze colored water in plastic ups with two small prizes inside. They had to smash the ice to get their "treasures."

6. Pop Fizz - Each boy got two cups. One with vinegar and the other with baking soda. I put different colors of food coloring under the baking soda. On the count of three, they had to pour the vinegar into the baking soda. The boys reactions were great! We also did the Mentos and diet soda experiment.

At this point, we came inside for pizza and cake. While they were waiting for their food, we did some magic tricks at the table.

7. Disapearing Character / Magic - I had 3 different Swap Force characters on the table, the boys closed their eyes and I took one away. They had to figure out which one was missing. As simple as this was, they loved it! We added more characters and played it over and over.

After dinner....cake

8. Fire - Shay was instructed to close his eyes as they kids sang happy birthday and make his wish. If he blew out all the candles there would be a surprise. I switched out the character on the cake for a new Swap-Force character. He was so happy when he realized there was a new one!

MISSION COMPLETE - time for goodie bags. Luckily, I found lots of treasures in the Dollar Bins at Target. There were socks, stickers, and roller stamps. I got tubes on Mini M&M's and glued a note around it saying, "Thanks for helping Shay complete his Shay-Force Mission!" Shay added Swap-Force stickers.

It ended up being a great party. The games took about an hour to complete. It was the right amount of kids and enough activities to keep them engaged and having fun! There was time for the birthday boy to open presents too!

Mustash Bash -

It is hard to believe that my "little man" just turned one - probably the reason I have not made many posts.  So I hope you enjoy these photos of our party.  It was simple and fun.  A big thanks to Gigi for being there to help too!

Some of the activities included: bubbles, pin the mustache on the birthday boy, ball pit, and silly photos.

Party details: chocolate mustache party favor, center pieces with mustaches, homemade blueberry smash cake, and chocolate toppers for the cupcakes.

 

Happy Birthday to our little man...we love you!

now back to reality...Fall activities coming soon. 

Here is a funny article to remind us parents to keep things in perspective! http://wellcommons.com/weblogs/larryvillemom/2013/aug/21/5-ways-were-making-parenting-harder/

Here is the mustashe pattern used for the chocolate cupcake toppers and cut outs for "pin the mustache on the birthday boy".  I went to Costco, printed a 16x20 photo, and the kids taped the mustache on the photo.

Smashing Good Time

We celebrated my son's fifth birthday Angry Bird Style!  It was actually perfect because after our move, we had plenty of boxes to smash and crash.

King Pig Tower

Angry Bird Structures

When the boys arrived there were three games they could play.  One was the Matel Angry Bird game.  That was on the coffee table.  The second was The King Pig Tower.  The kids had to create a tower out of green plastic cups.  Then they threw plush angry birds at it to crash it down.  (Be sure to put this game on carpet otherwise it gets loud when they fall or do outside.)  The third game was outside on the patio.  The kids made structures out of boxes then took turns knocking it down with Angry Bird stuffed animals.  Needless to say, the boys were entertained knocking down the various towers and structures.

Edible Structure

After some playing it was time for Angry Bird lunch.  I wish I took a picture, but I made sandwiches and cut each one into 3 rectangles. I placed them on their plate to look like an angry bird structure.  I put one strawberry and pineapple triangle for the birds.  I found Angry Bird cheese crackers at the store.  The kids didn't eat much but it looked cute.  After lunch and some more playing, the kids made an edible angry bird structure.  They used white frosting to hold the cookies and gummy Angry Birds in place.

Overall, the party was a smashing good time!


Side note:  I am keeping the green cups for a way to build number recognition.  I will be writing numbers (1-30) on the inside on the cups.  We will take turns picking a cup, reading the number, then adding it to the structure.  If we read the number incorrectly, we have to put the cup back down.  Once all the cups are stacked, then it is time to knock it down!