Sean's birthday party this year was so much fun to prepare and plan! I've wanted to throw a Lego themed party for ages, but Sean hasn't wanted one until now. Thankfully, we squeezed it in just in time. I'm afraid this is the last birthday party of this type for him. 12-year-old boys just have no interest in games and such, they just want to "hang out". Haha. I'm sure we'll still do campouts or pizza or something, but nothing with games and stuff. He's growing up too fast.
Small disclaimer before we begin: my uber nice Nikon SLR camera is on the fritz. So, the entire day was captured with nothing but my iPhone. While I'm disappointed about my camera, I'm grateful I at least had something to capture the day with.
Susan normally lets me keep her Cricut at my house. I'm the one that mostly uses it and she doesn't mind if I keep it safe. But, she had the nerve to "borrow" her OWN machine back for cutting vinyl! How rude. Haha. So, the banner was done by hand. But, with lots of love!
One of the games I had planned was a guessing game. The boys were asked how many pieces they thought it took to create this house set (car, base plate, everything). The closest without going over would win a small Lego kit. The winner was Joshua Johnson, with a guess of 520 (actual amount was 539).
The goodie bags had only three things in them. I normally do more than that...but Legos are expensive! Sheesh! I spray painted empty baby food jars yellow and drew a face on them to resemble Lego figurine heads and then filled them with Lego block candy. I put about 10 Lego pieces in a little baggie with a tag in the bags as well as a couple of chocolate Lego figurines.
Sean and his friend Braden (who hung out at the house all day...love that kid) created some utensil holders for me.
I spent so much time on the cake that I cheated with the cupcakes. Box mix and ready made frosting with a single Lego block candy on top. Nobody complained, so I think the only person it bothered is me. BTW, check out my table runner! I bought a roll of bubble wrap at the dollar store and spray painted it green to resemble a green Lego baseplate! The spray paint popped a few of the bubbles, but it worked.
And now for the cake. I hate fondant. With a passion. I can never get it to be smooth with zero cracks. It's always dry. I called up my good friend from High School who is a cake decorator and asked her for some tips. Even with all of her help, the cake still doesn't look super fabulous. However, when Sean saw it, his face lit up and he told me, "see!? You do it! I knew you could! Tell yourself, 'I can do hard things'. And then believe it. This looks great!". So, that made me happy.
I bought a small Lego figurine mold through Amazon and made chocolates out of Almond Bark. These were a huge hit!
All the real Lego decorations were provided from Lyle's Lego collection. Even at 34, he's still just a kid at heart and still collects this things!
I also provided the boys with PowerAde (red and blue) and M&M's.
The first game for the boys was a relay race. The boys split into two teams and were provided with two paper plates and 30 Lego pieces and straws. Each boy sucked on their straw to move a Lego piece from one plate to the next and then the next boy took a turn. The first team to move all the pieces to the other plate...won! They really had fun. They were shouting and encouraging each other.
The third game consisted of the same two teams building a tower. They were told to make it as tall as they liked, but as sturdy as possible.
Even Ava joined in the fun! She built her own tower, appropriately girly, with a little help from Mama.
After the towers were built, the boys took turns throwing a ball at them to see which one held up the most. There were Legos everywhere, but they enjoyed the destruction.
Then it was time to sing Happy Birthday! Ava really wanted to sing all by herself before the boys sang to Sean. So, she did! She sang all the words perfectly and gave her big brother a big hug and kiss. It was really sweet.
Sean opened presents (lots of Lego kits, money, candy and water toys), while the guests ate cupcakes and ice cream sandwiches.
After the friend party was over, family started to arrive. Sean requested Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner, and everyone was pleased. That's a favorite of the family.
We tried lighting the candles outside, but the breeze forced us into the kitchen.
Sean opened more presents (headphones, video game, wii U controller, money, gift cards and candy). And then we all sat around visiting, giggling and enjoying the amazing weather. It was a perfect night, a perfect birthday...it's a perfect life!
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