Okay, so I jumped on the band wagon of themed birthday parties and went above and beyond my normal "keep it simple" mantra. It was one evening of browsing Pinterest that did me in with all the fun ideas. I just kept saying to myself, "oh, I have to do that!" and "that is simple to make, I can do that too!" Before I knew it, I was planning a party that was way above and beyond my 6 month pregnant self. :)
Sidenote: I know that this is not like an amazing party like some I view daily on the web, but for me, it was a big deal...so yeah, I set the bar kinda low (and am not ashamed about it).
So, first of all, I decided to make a pinata. Because, hey, I made one in 1st grade and remember in detail how much fun it was, so it should be a breeze. Note to self or any others thinking to do this project: start at least 5 days in advance so you aren't still decorating the day of the party! It was fairly simple, and I assumed Aidan would want to help, but he lasted through ripping the newspaper into strips and putting the first piece on...then he just wanted to wash the goop off his hands and do something else. I continued at it, day after day, layer after layer, until I had an aching back and a large ballon shaped paper mache ball to work with. The day of the party, I stuffed it with goodies (fruit snacks, fake coins, and fireballs), painted it black, added eyes, mouth, and tissue paper all over.... and then glued on the black paper chain. I then left the rest to the husband, who drilled a couple holes in it and got it rigged up the right way for the hitting to commence.
Oh the finished project! I can hardly stand the fact that all my hard work is now smashed to pieces!
Since Aidan is obsessed with Mario, and I mean obsessed, we decided to have Seth (the husband) dress up like Bowser (the ultimate Mario villain). So we rigged up a cardboard shell, spray painted it and put party hats in it for spikes. I then used an old sweater I had lying around to make a hat with felt horns. It was a hit! Not too scary or overdone, but enough to make every child at the party stop in their tracks. I'm pretty sure Bowser's appearance was the biggest talk of the town for the next few days. :)
We had "Bowser" come and "kidnap" the Princess (a.k.a Nora) while the kids were playing in the yard. We had music cued up and everything which was really funny. I SO SO WISH WE HAD VIDEOTAPED IT! Seriously. It was hilarious. And Aidan got so into it while most of the other kids just stood there trying to figure out what in the world was going on. He was chasing after Bowser and fighting him with everything he had in him. Of course, all the adults were cracking up at this point.
Then we had all the kids go on a quest to save the Princess. I started out by giving them each Mario hats that I sewed as party favors. Not all the kids wanted to wear one at this point, so we just let them do what they wanted (obviously). Oh, and we had one Luigi (Aidan's sweet friend from church that came dressed for the occasion).
Our first "level" was to find Yoshi eggs that we had hidden in the front yard and filled with fake coins. This was a cooperative level and they all seemed to like it. We spray painted our Easter eggs white and dotted them with green paint.
The next level involved them, lining up and going through a small obstacle course (tunnel, jumping over logs, and then smashing the Goombas). We made Goombas (another Mario theme) with balloons and they smashed them. I wish I had taken a close up of the faces I drew on them!
Can I just say I love this age? The boys were great and they were all so into each game. I was afraid at first they would think I was nuts, but they all got into the theme. In order to defeat Bowser they needed to get fire power by attacking the Chain Chomp (the pinata). Hence, the reason for the fireball candy.
Then Bowser appeared again and started bouncing on the trampoline. I made "fire balls" out of old socks rolled up and tied with red fleece that I cut to make look like flames. These were perfect for throwing and no one could get hurt. They each had one and kept throwing them at Seth. I think this might have been the favorite game as "Bowser" kept throwing them back until he was finally defeated and offered up gold stars (stars I cut from that fun foam stuff).
Again, hilarious to watch.
So, then Mario came out with the Princess and all was saved!
Then, we went inside to open presents. They were all so sweet and great during this part (which can sometimes be a nightmare). I was really impressed with all the boys.
And, then some playing outside while waiting for pizza for dinner. We had the party from 4:30-7:00 on his actual birthday so we decided to serve dinner. The boys were also pretty hungry after all the games!
Then we had pizza, followed by cake and ice cream! I made the cake using some little KNEX Mario motorcycles we bought for Aidan as a birthday present. I am not a cake decorator by any means, so I was pretty happy with the end result. I made some toadstool cupcakes to go along with the cake in case we didn't have enough.
And then I sent home some star cookies and fireballs along with the Mario hats as party favors!
All in all, it was a great party! I was pretty wiped out at the end, but glad that I pulled off everything. The kids talked about it for days so I think it was quite the hit. Don't know if I'll do it again next year or go for something more simple, but it was worth it.
Can't believe my big boy is 5 already!
