The big day finally arrived -- Oliver's birthday party!! It was really cool having his party on Saturday and his actual birthday Sunday -- a whole weekend of fun, ending with a super tired, super happy boy. When we 
began thinking about the party ages ago, Andy said it would be cool to have an "old fashioned party" where we planned (gasp!) PARTY GAMES! Like in the olden days, you know.... :-) So our brains started churning, and at some point I expanded the idea to become the "Oliver Olympics," knowing that the kids would get a kick out of winning gold medals if they or their team won a game. I found some cool decorations online, mainly some excellent long flag banners and cut-out paper Olympic rings, as well as the gold medals. Then we had to decide on the cake, and all the Olympic themes seemed really boring (a torch? rings? bleh), so when I looked through a cookbook for ideas and saw the cutest owl cupcakes, I showed them to Ollie and he said, "I want those!" A thematic departure, but we didn't care one bit. The last order of business was to plan the party games. We knew of some favorites off the top of our heads... musical chairs, pin the tail on the donkey, a relay race... but for more
good ideas I looked online and found lots of great ones. We narrowed it down to 10 games, though we didn't have time to actually do them all at the party! More on that later. I typed up a master plan, complete with assigned teams when needed (I actually pulled names out of a hat to do this, incapable of making these CRITICAL decisions on my own). The food at the party was definitely the weak link... we made mini sausage-rolls, our favorite English standby, and had loads of corn chips with guacamole, salsa, and hummus... and that's about it. Lame. I forgot to put out cheese sticks and chex mix for the kids (and hungry adults, for that matter). Although I must say, the party was at 2pm, a between-meals time.... and we did have cake! I made it the day before, a recipe I've used often, knowing we'd be too busy on the day of the party. Very pleased with the owls.
On to the party.... Ollie's eleven closest friends came (very sorry we couldn't invite ALL his friends, just not enough room!), along with younger siblings, so there were TWENTY kids here, including Ollie and Maddie. Moms and
many dads as well, so a very big crowd indeed. Before I forget, thank you to EVERYONE for being so helpful... every time I turned around, someone was offering to help - setting up for games, tidying, rounding up the troops, passing out cake, etc. We're so grateful! So, the best way to describe the party is through the games - here goes!
1. ZOO RESCUE
Probably our most successful game... I had hidden (with some help, as I forgot to do this in time and had to finish after our first guests arrived) about 75 stuffed animals around the downstairs of the house and the front yard. I know what you're thinking: 75 stuffed animals?? I'm shocked as well. We don't "collect" stuffed a
nimals by any means, but apparently, when you have 2 kids, these things just accumulate. Many are quite small, three or four inches long, but many others are as big as a standard-issue teddy bear. Our range is quite impressive, including a hedgehog, a little fox, a good number of singing birds, pigs of all sizes, a hermit crab, loads of lambs, and on and on. We divided the kids into two teams, gave everyone their own plastic bag for collecting, and explained that ALL these animals had escaped from the zoo and we needed them to hunt for them... the team that collected the most animals won the medals! So they all dashed out in every direction, gleefully hunting and stuffing their bags, and then returned to their team bases for the big count. It was close - the winning team found 39 animals, and the other team found 33. The only unfound animals were a couple stuck deep into the sofa, and one very small frog in a shoe in the hallway. Nice job!
2. BALLOON POP
For this game, we had blown up one balloon per child (plus a few, since I miscounted), each with a little folded piece of paper inside. All the pa
pers were blank, except for one that said, "WIN!" After everyone had a balloon, we said "Go!" and they had to pop the balloons any way they wished, to see if they held the winning balloon. Well, I had no idea it could be so hard to pop balloons, when you're actually trying to! It was a hilarious, raucus free for all, with kids attempting to sit and jump on balloons (not an easy task, really), intermittent loud POPS!, and lots of excited shouting. Ollie kept batting at his balloon, sort of chasing it and punching it, not a very effective technique, but lots of fun to watch. Lowry had the winning balloon, and won the gold medal.
3. MUSICAL CHAIRS
All twelve big kids played this game, so we set up 12 chairs in a long line (we had removed the dining room table earlier to make space), each chair facing the opposite direction from the last.
The kids walked and danced in a circle around them while Andy blasted Poker Face on nearby speakers. For the first round, everyone had a chair, but after that one chair was removed each time. I was worried there would be a lot of struggling for chairs and possibly hurt feelings, but the kids were just SUCH good sports. The best thing about this game was that the kids just had a blast with it, they weren't strategizing or lingering near chairs, they just pranced around and danced and were silly, and no one fussed when they got out. Our only regret was that we didn't do this game twice - it was just so fun. Claire, Brooke, and Harper were the last 3 standing (or sitting, as the case may be), then it was Claire and Harper, and Harper won by a nose - gold medal!!
4. FLAMINGO
It was an absolutely gorgeous day, so we though
t it would be a good idea to get the crazy kids outside. Flamingo is a cute idea, but it didn't work with 5-year-olds... you divide into two teams, and one person from each team has to stand on one leg and try to keep their leg up longer than their opponent, while the other team tries any means (except touching the person) to get them to put their leg down. Your team gets a point if you held your leg up the longest. Eventually, everyone has a go and the team with the most points wins. So, the kids were too excited to really focus on who was on what team and who they should aim their attention at making fall, so we nipped this one in the bud. Onward!
5. COLD DAY RELAY RACE
Two teams again, and each team had a hat, mittens or gloves, and a scarf. The first two players have to put on their stuff, run all the way to the other end of the yard and touch one of the
volunteer parents' hands, then run back and give all the gear to the next person in line, until each person on the team has gone. A pretty excellent game, though for some reason one team was a lot more motivated than the other!! Still, a pretty close race and really good fun.
CAKE BREAK!
We all headed back in and gradually made our way to the dining room, where all the kids sat in a circle and everyone sang the Happy Birthday song to Oliver as the cake came in. I'm not sure I've ever seen pure happiness displayed in hum
an form as what I saw on Ollie's face then. So, so sweet. All the kids got owl cupcakes, and the big owl cake was cut up for the parents (and don't forget our fab neighbors, Steve and Maureen, who are lovely beyond words). Super happy we don't have a rug - crumbs everywhere, a
quick sweep and they were gone.
6. PIN THE TAIL ON THE DONKEY
Andy was intent on making the donkey himself for this game, which I agreed to mainly because I couldn't find one to purchase that was bigger than about two feet across (lame!). My hesitation was in the logistics (not in his artistic p
rowess, of course!) -- primarily, how to construct a tail that would adhere to the paper/board. Problem solved when I found a huge piece of folded cardboard (sold for science fair displays, etc.) -- we could stick a pin in that! We made a little tail out of brown yarn and managed to get a pin to stay in it with glue. The kids really enjoyed it, and Oliver won! Not fair, really, as he got to practice a little bit... but Georgie came in a very close second.
7. PASS THE PARCEL
I hear this is a very traditional English game; you select a small gift (I chose an mini Simon game) and wrap it over and over and over again, layer a
fter layer of wrapping paper. The kids sit in a circle and the music starts (this time it was Don't Go, by Yazoo) and the parcel gets passed until the music stops, and whoever is holding it gets to unwrap the first layer. This goes on (and on!), layer after layer, until the present is revealed. I think I wrapped about fifteen layers... the kids were great, really careful to open only one layer, though the excitement mounted with each layer! Congrats to Duncan, the big winner! His mom was just sooo excited to have a new noisy game to bring home (sorry!
!!). :-)
So, we ran out of time and energy for the last three games... one was called Balloon Sandwich, a race played with balloons held between tummies or backs, no hands, and another was Sleeping Lions, where the kids lie on the floor and pretend they're asleep, getting eliminated if they move (would be good if this game lasted about a half hour, ha ha). The one I really missed, though, was the Plasma Car Time Trials, where we planned to se
t up cones in the dining room and time each kid as they completed two laps around the track on the plasma car. They all would have loved that, but we just ran out of steam. Oh, I can't forget the gift bags.... we gave each guest their own little stuffed owl, along with a few English chocolate treats and some extra gold medals. Great keepsakes from the famed Olympics/Owl birthday party! Planning and preparing for this party seemed a bit daunting at times, but in the end it was just so much fun (although I had almost no time for normal conversations with adults, which was a bummer) - and the kids were simply fantastic, honestly. Oliver, you were a star - gracious and fun - as always. We just love you beyond words. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
began thinking about the party ages ago, Andy said it would be cool to have an "old fashioned party" where we planned (gasp!) PARTY GAMES! Like in the olden days, you know.... :-) So our brains started churning, and at some point I expanded the idea to become the "Oliver Olympics," knowing that the kids would get a kick out of winning gold medals if they or their team won a game. I found some cool decorations online, mainly some excellent long flag banners and cut-out paper Olympic rings, as well as the gold medals. Then we had to decide on the cake, and all the Olympic themes seemed really boring (a torch? rings? bleh), so when I looked through a cookbook for ideas and saw the cutest owl cupcakes, I showed them to Ollie and he said, "I want those!" A thematic departure, but we didn't care one bit. The last order of business was to plan the party games. We knew of some favorites off the top of our heads... musical chairs, pin the tail on the donkey, a relay race... but for more
good ideas I looked online and found lots of great ones. We narrowed it down to 10 games, though we didn't have time to actually do them all at the party! More on that later. I typed up a master plan, complete with assigned teams when needed (I actually pulled names out of a hat to do this, incapable of making these CRITICAL decisions on my own). The food at the party was definitely the weak link... we made mini sausage-rolls, our favorite English standby, and had loads of corn chips with guacamole, salsa, and hummus... and that's about it. Lame. I forgot to put out cheese sticks and chex mix for the kids (and hungry adults, for that matter). Although I must say, the party was at 2pm, a between-meals time.... and we did have cake! I made it the day before, a recipe I've used often, knowing we'd be too busy on the day of the party. Very pleased with the owls.On to the party.... Ollie's eleven closest friends came (very sorry we couldn't invite ALL his friends, just not enough room!), along with younger siblings, so there were TWENTY kids here, including Ollie and Maddie. Moms and
many dads as well, so a very big crowd indeed. Before I forget, thank you to EVERYONE for being so helpful... every time I turned around, someone was offering to help - setting up for games, tidying, rounding up the troops, passing out cake, etc. We're so grateful! So, the best way to describe the party is through the games - here goes!1. ZOO RESCUE
Probably our most successful game... I had hidden (with some help, as I forgot to do this in time and had to finish after our first guests arrived) about 75 stuffed animals around the downstairs of the house and the front yard. I know what you're thinking: 75 stuffed animals?? I'm shocked as well. We don't "collect" stuffed a
nimals by any means, but apparently, when you have 2 kids, these things just accumulate. Many are quite small, three or four inches long, but many others are as big as a standard-issue teddy bear. Our range is quite impressive, including a hedgehog, a little fox, a good number of singing birds, pigs of all sizes, a hermit crab, loads of lambs, and on and on. We divided the kids into two teams, gave everyone their own plastic bag for collecting, and explained that ALL these animals had escaped from the zoo and we needed them to hunt for them... the team that collected the most animals won the medals! So they all dashed out in every direction, gleefully hunting and stuffing their bags, and then returned to their team bases for the big count. It was close - the winning team found 39 animals, and the other team found 33. The only unfound animals were a couple stuck deep into the sofa, and one very small frog in a shoe in the hallway. Nice job!2. BALLOON POP
For this game, we had blown up one balloon per child (plus a few, since I miscounted), each with a little folded piece of paper inside. All the pa
pers were blank, except for one that said, "WIN!" After everyone had a balloon, we said "Go!" and they had to pop the balloons any way they wished, to see if they held the winning balloon. Well, I had no idea it could be so hard to pop balloons, when you're actually trying to! It was a hilarious, raucus free for all, with kids attempting to sit and jump on balloons (not an easy task, really), intermittent loud POPS!, and lots of excited shouting. Ollie kept batting at his balloon, sort of chasing it and punching it, not a very effective technique, but lots of fun to watch. Lowry had the winning balloon, and won the gold medal.3. MUSICAL CHAIRS
All twelve big kids played this game, so we set up 12 chairs in a long line (we had removed the dining room table earlier to make space), each chair facing the opposite direction from the last.
The kids walked and danced in a circle around them while Andy blasted Poker Face on nearby speakers. For the first round, everyone had a chair, but after that one chair was removed each time. I was worried there would be a lot of struggling for chairs and possibly hurt feelings, but the kids were just SUCH good sports. The best thing about this game was that the kids just had a blast with it, they weren't strategizing or lingering near chairs, they just pranced around and danced and were silly, and no one fussed when they got out. Our only regret was that we didn't do this game twice - it was just so fun. Claire, Brooke, and Harper were the last 3 standing (or sitting, as the case may be), then it was Claire and Harper, and Harper won by a nose - gold medal!!4. FLAMINGO
It was an absolutely gorgeous day, so we though
t it would be a good idea to get the crazy kids outside. Flamingo is a cute idea, but it didn't work with 5-year-olds... you divide into two teams, and one person from each team has to stand on one leg and try to keep their leg up longer than their opponent, while the other team tries any means (except touching the person) to get them to put their leg down. Your team gets a point if you held your leg up the longest. Eventually, everyone has a go and the team with the most points wins. So, the kids were too excited to really focus on who was on what team and who they should aim their attention at making fall, so we nipped this one in the bud. Onward!5. COLD DAY RELAY RACE
Two teams again, and each team had a hat, mittens or gloves, and a scarf. The first two players have to put on their stuff, run all the way to the other end of the yard and touch one of the
volunteer parents' hands, then run back and give all the gear to the next person in line, until each person on the team has gone. A pretty excellent game, though for some reason one team was a lot more motivated than the other!! Still, a pretty close race and really good fun.CAKE BREAK!
We all headed back in and gradually made our way to the dining room, where all the kids sat in a circle and everyone sang the Happy Birthday song to Oliver as the cake came in. I'm not sure I've ever seen pure happiness displayed in hum
an form as what I saw on Ollie's face then. So, so sweet. All the kids got owl cupcakes, and the big owl cake was cut up for the parents (and don't forget our fab neighbors, Steve and Maureen, who are lovely beyond words). Super happy we don't have a rug - crumbs everywhere, a
quick sweep and they were gone.6. PIN THE TAIL ON THE DONKEY
Andy was intent on making the donkey himself for this game, which I agreed to mainly because I couldn't find one to purchase that was bigger than about two feet across (lame!). My hesitation was in the logistics (not in his artistic p
rowess, of course!) -- primarily, how to construct a tail that would adhere to the paper/board. Problem solved when I found a huge piece of folded cardboard (sold for science fair displays, etc.) -- we could stick a pin in that! We made a little tail out of brown yarn and managed to get a pin to stay in it with glue. The kids really enjoyed it, and Oliver won! Not fair, really, as he got to practice a little bit... but Georgie came in a very close second.7. PASS THE PARCEL
I hear this is a very traditional English game; you select a small gift (I chose an mini Simon game) and wrap it over and over and over again, layer a
fter layer of wrapping paper. The kids sit in a circle and the music starts (this time it was Don't Go, by Yazoo) and the parcel gets passed until the music stops, and whoever is holding it gets to unwrap the first layer. This goes on (and on!), layer after layer, until the present is revealed. I think I wrapped about fifteen layers... the kids were great, really careful to open only one layer, though the excitement mounted with each layer! Congrats to Duncan, the big winner! His mom was just sooo excited to have a new noisy game to bring home (sorry!
!!). :-)So, we ran out of time and energy for the last three games... one was called Balloon Sandwich, a race played with balloons held between tummies or backs, no hands, and another was Sleeping Lions, where the kids lie on the floor and pretend they're asleep, getting eliminated if they move (would be good if this game lasted about a half hour, ha ha). The one I really missed, though, was the Plasma Car Time Trials, where we planned to se
t up cones in the dining room and time each kid as they completed two laps around the track on the plasma car. They all would have loved that, but we just ran out of steam. Oh, I can't forget the gift bags.... we gave each guest their own little stuffed owl, along with a few English chocolate treats and some extra gold medals. Great keepsakes from the famed Olympics/Owl birthday party! Planning and preparing for this party seemed a bit daunting at times, but in the end it was just so much fun (although I had almost no time for normal conversations with adults, which was a bummer) - and the kids were simply fantastic, honestly. Oliver, you were a star - gracious and fun - as always. We just love you beyond words. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
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