Martial Arts Party

In March, Malcolm's school had a raffle fund raiser and he won a birthday party at a local martial arts center.  He was a little uncertain at first, but eventually he was very excited and now wants to take lessons.  Thirty days of free lessons is part of the package deal (and a free uniform), so we will see if we can work it into our schedule.

I was trying to think of something interesting for a goody bag instead of the normal bag of junk.  Malcolm had been to a super hero party at the facility last year and I made him a cape to wear.  I offered to make capes for all of his friends, but he shot me down in favor of a bag of junk because, "Little toys are the best!"  We had a small compromise where I bought some ninja cookie cutters and made lemon poppy seed ninjas in addition to buying bubbles, glow stick bracelets, and a Gogo and sticker in each bag.  I also used the cookie cutters to trace little ninja guys on paper bags.  I was going to use Chinese take-out containers, but the bracelets wouldn't fit inside.

 

Each child got two ninja cookies and one star.  I had a little trouble keeping the guys doing a high kick in the correct form when moving them to the cookie sheet.  As you can see, he is kicking really high and leaning way to the side.  That is not how the cookie cutter looks, but I kept accidentally reshaping them in more of a high extension dance tilt than a karate kick.  Oops.  They are still cute.

 

First up was a short warm up and mini class where they learned blocks, punches, and kicks.  Dorothy did her best to keep up with all of the 4-6 year old boys and did a pretty good job following the instructor's directions.  

 

All of the kids got white belts to wear during the party (and to take home) and Malcolm got to be a black belt for the day.  Here he is getting his black belt.  He also got to help lead the class during the mini lesson.

 For part of their warm up, they played a little running game where they had to duck, jump, and weave based on what the instructor said.  I only caught the end, but the kids were all giggling and having a great time.

Kicking

Dorothy and  friend who attends the center practice punches.

Standing in their "ready" pose.

Excitedly waiting for the next thing.

 After warming up and learning a few basic moves, they set up an obstacle coarse for the kids to run.  They were moving so fast that I couldn't get very good pictures, but I did get a few.

Tim leaps the hurdle.

Going over and under.

After all that running, they were ready for cupcakes!  The facility supplied the cupcakes (and everything else) and they looked really good.  I checked out the label on the box and will have to give Herb's Bakery a try.  I didn't get to taste one, but the kids all ate them very quickly and were sent home with frosting on their faces.

 

After cupcakes Malcolm opened presents at warp speed.  It was a bit chaotic, but he was genuinely excited about each one.  We had talked beforehand about being polite no matter what the present was and other than one small slip about two Lego trucks being the same (they weren't), he did very well.  He did get several Lego sets, but they were all different, and they are his first real Lego's.  I have been holding off getting him any because I figured that the odds were good that he would get a set or two at his party.  I am always amazed at how generous everyone is.  We have started writing thank you notes, but it will take a little while to finish since his attention span is only as long as about two notes at a time.

Finally it was time for the pinata and all of the kids were very excited.  They each got to take a whack at it and Malcolm and two other boys got a second turn before it came down.

The feeding frenzy.

He was exhausted, but we let him skip his nap and stay up putting together Lego's with daddy.  His first one was a dump truck that actually works.  I had to take over the ninja motorcycle, but I made a mistake and Kevin is going to have to take it apart and fix it.  I was shocked that it had 53 pages worth of instructions.  I don't remember my Lego's being so complex.

He had a great day and loved getting to hang out with so many of his friends.  For a group of 13 boys and one two year old girl, the kids were very well behaved.  There were only minor reminders to remember the rules a couple of times which is impressive.  It was a fun party that was very low stress for me since the facility took care of just about everything.  I wouldn't have ever thought of doing a party there if we hadn't won it, but I'm glad we did.  I think the guests had fun too.

This was our most quiet guest, Emma.  She slept through almost the entire thing, but I was able to hold her for a little bit and get some good baby snuggles and sleepy baby sighs while the boys were being picked up.  She is just gorgeous!