Luke’s 8th Birthday

Well, I just published an incredibly detailed post about Luke’s 8th birthday to my Kingdom Civics blog, so writing this feels a little repetitive to me.  However, that post was more technical and was written to be shared on Pinterest.  I also wanted a post on my family blog that focused more on the day itself. 

And the day itself was so fun.

Luke had been at Gigi and Papa’s for the first part of the week, while I split my time at home between “quality time” with Anna and prepping for his party.  He had known for months that he wanted a Hobbit-themed party, and we had already spent a few weeks together in intense preparation.  I tell you, I really don’t know why I threw parties for my kids as babies and toddlers.  School-aged parties are so much more fun because the kids get just as involved in the planning and prep.  It’s a fun family adventure from beginning to end!

Luke came back in town on Wednesday, and Gaga was already there waiting on him.  Of course, she brought a couple of presents.

This one was a stuffed red dragon and a copy of How to Train your Dragon, which I thought was cute.

We spent a nice evening with Gaga, and then Thursday was the big day!  That morning at breakfast, we let Luke open a couple of presents.

His sister got him a Star Wars art kit with her own money, and he had requested two remote-controlled dogs, one for Anna.  How could we say no to that?  Anna was very pleased to get her own present.  I love how they took care of each other with their gifts and requests!

That afternoon, our friends arrived, and the Hobbit party officially began.  Here’s what our family room looked like as a “Blacksmith’s Shop”:

The kids first received their cloak and sword, and then decorated their shields:

Next, it was outside…

…to play a simple, “Which Dwarf Are You?” game.

Then, it was time for the adventure to begin!

We first went into Gollum’s cave to look for the ring:

Anna was Gollum, and she found the ring first!

(^And goodness, I think I unhinged my jaw in that photo!  Good grief!)

You had to answer riddles correctly to keep the ring, and it soon got passed from Gollum to several dwarves (and Bilbo, who was “played” by Luke).  Eventually, my mom answered a riddle correctly and chose to give the ring back to Anna…who promptly took off running with it, laughing like a hyena!  The dwarves and Bilbo reflexively gave chase…and it ended up being a perfectly hilarious end to the Gollum game.

Next, it was into the forest…

…to fight the Wargs and goblins with flaming pinecones!

This game ended with the whole group charging the last Warg that stood when the pinecones ran out.  They let out a terrible war cry and fiercely cut him down with their swords!

Next, the kids had to face the spiders…

…the spiders were played by Anna and her friend, Allie, who wrapped in toilet paper the unfortunate dwarves who got caught in their web.

Finally, it was time to face Smaug himself…

…thankfully, in pinata form.

It took the efforts of all the dwarves and Bilbo (and Gollum, come to think of it), but Smaug was eventually vanquished, and his gold coins were collected by all:

Next, it was time for dinner:

The food was basic, but kid-friendly.

After we ate, we did a very simple scavenger hunt for Luke’s gifts from his friends.  This was his one request, inspired by his friend, Tyler’s, birthday party.  I consulted Ty’s mom, Courtney, and she gave me tips on hiding the presents in simple places with Hobbit inspired names.  The kids used a very rudimentary, hand-drawn map to find them.  For instance, the fire pit was the Troll’s fire.  The tree house was, the Elves’ house.  And so forth.  Courtney had assured me that the guests enjoyed looking for their own presents, and she was right.

Luke also opened his “big” gift from us, which was The Hobbit video game.  Like last year’s Harry Potter game, this one did a great job at keeping the kids occupied.

Eventually it was time for cake. 

Per Luke’s request, I ordered a Dairy Queen ice cream cake.  This was the Hobbit-iest one I could find.

And that was mainly it.  The kids had fun the rest of the evening, and as is their tradition, Tyler challenged Gaga to a game of chess:

This picture cracks me up.

Eventually, others got involved…

Many swordfights were held, many levels of the video game were explored, and then we wrapped up the evening by eating popcorn and watching The Desolation of Smaug.  It was a big day, and by the end, I think we all felt that we had accomplished something!

Happy 8th Birthday to my favorite Hobbit!

Obi Wan, Harry Potter, and the Rainforest: Luke’s 7th Birthday

Last week, our son turned seven years old.  Which is crazy, of course.  He’s not supposed to be that old yet!  He started off the morning opening a present:

It was an Obi Wan costume, which went well with his light saber.  I had ordered it before Luke had moved on to Harry Potter.  Oh well—he loved it anyway!

In the early afternoon, Gaga arrived, bringing her own party with her:

I missed most of this part because I had to go meet the Steeds to bring Ty and Canon back to Luke’s “other” party:).  But Gaga’s version consisted of cake, balloons, and lots of presents!

Once the guests arrived, there was lots of LEGO building—even by Anna, who was the happy recipient of a new LEGO pet shop from Gaga!  More than building, however, the boys ended up playing a huge, intense game of Harry Potter.  Tyler and Canon had also recently started the series, and Luke’s cousin, Kalyb, was an expert from the video game.  Poor Sam and Brown had never so much heard of Dumbledore, but they were quick to catch on, and soon, they were all pairing off and fighting over the Sorceror’s stone:

They were having a ball, but we had to interrupt the “war” to go to dinner at the Rainforest Café:

None of us had ever been the Rainforest Café, and it was super cool.  We ate under the rainforest canopy, with an opening to watch shooting stars, and our dinner was punctuated by the roars and calls of the various wild animals all around us—not to mention the occasional thunderstorm!

Greg and Gigi joined us, too, but they got stuck in traffic and didn’t come until a bit later.  At some point, we opened presents:

Per his newest obsession, Luke received Hogwarts and Diagon Alley LEGO sets, and the XBox LEGO Harry Potter game.  He also got a Star Wars LEGO set and Darth Vader mask, as well as some outside toys.  What a lucky boy!

After dinner, we headed home where the boys resumed their wizarding games.  They also tried out Luke’s new video game, and I realized how much I actually like the XBox LEGO games.  Unlike the linear video games I grew up playing, these games plop you down in a world with no clear objectives and instructions.  You have to figure out both what to do, and how to do it.  It was amazing to listen to all six boys persistently and excitedly strategize:  “Open that chest!  Try the potion!  No, I think you need to be Snape for this!  No, change back to Harry.  Try to cast this spell.  No, that one!  Wait, first you need to move that to the next room!”  Doggedly, through much trial and error, they experimented their way through the levels.  It was pretty cool.  They didn’t even mention cake and ice cream until we suggested we eat it, at about 9:00.

Publix didn’t have a Harry Potter cake (we are a few years too far behind that trend), but Star Wars worked just fine!

After more playing, the boys finally settled down after 11:00, and I put the first Harry Potter movie in. 

In the meantime, Gaga and Anna played a round of wizard chess (a gift from the Gaga party, with chess pieces modeled after the board in the first Harry Potter movie.  Luke also received a very cool wand and a neat Harry Potter book, among other presents). 

I was impressed at how well Anna picked up chess.  It wasn’t just her, though.  Gaga taught all the boys, and the next morning, there were several rounds of chess played.

Tyler, especially, was enthralled by the game, and even though his impetuous daring kept him losing most the time, he played game after game with anyone who would play with him!

A healthy breakfast of cinnamon rolls and chocolate milk:).

After several rounds of chess, several turns at this Star Wars Angry Birds game, and several levels of the Harry Potter video game, we finally said goodbye to all our guests.  It was such a fun party; we really need to have sleepovers more often!

Happy 7th Birthday, Luke!