Now THAT is a Birthday Party!!!

Yesterday was the boys' last day of first grade. Since the last day of school is only 1 hour and 5 minutes long, we decided to have the boy's "kid birthday party" in the afternoon. We figured that there would be no better way to celebrate being out of school for the summer and being 7 years old than a big ole party!!

Whew, let me tell you, it was quite a party! Ben, Jack, Drew and TWENTY-SIX! of their closest friends spent the afternoon in our backyard for a "Survivor Birthday Party".

The invitation...

I must give credit to my friend, Theresa, for this great idea for a theme. However, if it had stormed yesterday, as they were predicting, it would have been the worst idea ever....30 kids in my house would have been really, REALLY BAD!! Thankfully, the storms stayed away and it turned out fine. It really was an awesome idea and the kids loved it!

We started the party by giving the kids a red, yellow, or green "Survivor" shirt. The red shirted kids were Drew's friends and team, the yellow shirted kids were Jack's friends/team and the green shirted kids were Ben's friends/team. Each team then had to design their flag and search the yard for all of their party supplies (plates, napkins, silverware, drinks, water ballon sling shots, etc.).

Team directions...

Personalized shirts for the Survivors

The team competitions consisted of a race across the yard and through the slip n slide. Another competition was finding jewels in a pool of freezing water. Then, the boys participated in the gross food competition where they got to choose whether they wanted to eat bird poop, snake eggs, bird legs, volcano rocks, or drink coyote pee. The final competition was a water balloon fight.

Each winner, good sport, great slider got a gold coin. The plan was for the team with the most gold coins (which was really a lot) to go to the treasure chest to pick out a prize first, and then the second place team and then the third place team. But, by the time we got to the counting coins part of the party, the boys were much more interested in water, mud, treasures and candy. So, no coins were counted, but each of the boys went home with a prize, some candy, a ton of gold coins, and some treasures in their fanny pack.

A friend of mine took a ton of pictures from the party. Here is a fun slide show of the festivities.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Birthday Boys...

...and 26 of their nearest and dearest friends.

We were very happy to have "survived" the party. All 26 kids went home wet, dirty, sugar-ed up, and very happy. We were so thankful for our party helpers. Spencer took the day off. My mom and dad came a couple of hours early and stayed through the party and that was a HUGE help! Our neighbor Reyna was a great assistant. And, Jen got a friend to watch her trio so that she could spend the afternoon in our yard with 29 recent 1st grade graduates, including her 3 favorite! Now, that is a cool Aunt, crazy but very cool!!!



The boys are already wondering what we are going to do next year. Hmmm.....I'm thinking bowling might be a good idea. ;)