Saturday, August 9, 2008

Surprise - Retropost

I think I'm going to need to post a slew of these - retroposts!  There are so many things I'd love to share and just not enough time to post.  This was a little something fun that I thought I'd share though.  I'm going to post this at an earlier date - just the day after it happened.  (Even though it's 4 days past in reality.)


We had our dear friends from VA come visit this week.  It happened to be the week of the girl's (my friends girls) birthdays.  I thought it would be fun to throw them a surprise birthday party.  We had planned it for Monday night.  It was a surprise even to my friend.  I was bummed to hear on Monday morning that one of her children had a rash and the visit was to be postponed another 24 hours.  Well, some quick phone calls to friends and we set up another time for the party - Wed at lunch time.


I had wanted this to be a surprise as I thought it would be really special.  I knew that they didn't expect anything.  They had an appointment out on Wed morning and while they were gone, our house was being readied.  There was cleaning to do, decorations to be put up and more.


We had chosen an Olympic theme.  One of our friends offered to make the cake.  I was thrilled as I knew her efforts would be much better than mine.  Look at what she did!!!!  It was an amazing cake.


The rings were done in 2 flavors - chocolate and white.  The birthday girls had their initials done in the number of candles for their birthday.  The signs said Happy Birthday in languages from all over the world.  It was a spectacular and beautiful (and yummy) cake!


When they arrived at our house, we had 13 children waiting quietly.  When the girls walked in everyone yelled "Surprise"!  And it was.  :-)  I am so glad that we were able to do this!  It meant a lot to the girls (and their mama) to have a party with their friends.  It was definitely a group effort in getting it all done too.  We had a potluck style lunch with hamburgers, hotdogs, fruit, chips/salsa, potato salad and pasta salad.  Yum! 


After eating, we played games - Olympic style!  We shared some Olympic facts (it helps to have been studying that this week!).  We started with a torch relay.  I had planned the games for outside, but since it was the middle of the day - and hot - we opted for inside instead.  This required some creative changes in what we did.


The children were split into 2 teams for the relay.  The first pair had to run across the room to a chair and crawl through it before passing the torch to the next team member.  The next pair had to hop around the kitchen island to the foot of the stairs.  The third pair raced up the stairs and then "bumped" down them.  The fourth pair carried younger childrnen on their feet to the hallway.  The fifth pair slid across the floor on their stomachs.  The last pair did a log roll across the room.  It was fast-paced and fun!


Some of the other games we played included:


*Discus - (throwing paper plates)


*Marshmellow race (like egg and spoon - only neater)


*Javelin (straws served for a javelin)


*Volleyball (we used baby blankets to toss and catch the ball)


We had a few awarding of a crown of leaves which Rebecca made.   The games were a hit and provided lots of laughs.  I had a few more planned, but not enough time for everything. 


We ended the party with cake, opening presents and a pinata!  


Happy Birthday Hannah and Lauren! From your friends in NC!


I have more pictures - but they aren't loaded (and I don't know how).  Maybe they'll get added later - we'll see.


Blessings,



Leslie