Today, we had a party for Malcolm's birthday. We haven't done an outdoor party for him since his first birthday, but decided to chance it this year. We were really worried because on Monday, the forecast showed rain for the entire week. Each day, the expected weather for Saturday got better, and we got lucky. It was clear for the party, but it did rain all night, the night before, so the park was a soggy mess. The kids all had wet feet and were pretty muddy, but I think they still had fun.
Once everyone was there, we played three different games; asteroid, balloon shuttle, and clothespin tag. I forgot to take any pictures of asteroid. It was a new game that Malcolm read about in a parent magazine we had at home. Half the kids are on the "planet" team and have to kick a soccer ball around and avoid getting hit by the asteroids. The "asteroid" team has little balls (I bought some oddly shaped rock balls for this) that they throw and try to hit the planet with. The asteroid team can't move around, and must stay in one spot. It went ok, but it wasn't the greatest game.
Lined up for the balloon shuttle. Each person would run up to the picnic table, grab a balloon, sit on the bench to pop it, then run back and tag their next teammate. The first team done is the winner. None of the kids had ever done this one before and it was new to them, but they seemed to have fun with it.
The first two, popping their balloons.
Some found it more difficult than others.
It took him a couple of bounces to get it popped.
Cheering on their friends.
Last, we played about three games of clothespin tag. They all started with four clothespins, then they run around, trying to steal other poeople's pins while protecting their own. The person with the most clothepins when I called time was the winner. Malcolm managed to win twice.
The two littlest sisters didn't really get it, and Dorothy burst into tears during the last game. All the big kids were really nice to them though. I figured they would strip them of their clothespins right away, but the big kids never took more than one from them.
The rest of the big kids (and a couple of older siblings) were pretty well matched.
I love Kevin, laughing in the background. I think this game was the most entertaining for the adults.
There's just so much going on here. I love Emma, taking a clothespin from Dorothy.
It was amazing how quiet it got when we fed them lunch. They were all fairly hungry after all that running.
Even Dorothy ate.
It was a little hard to keep the candles lit, since there was a little wind. I'm not sure that all 8 were lit when he blew them out, but we called it close enough.
Dorothy tromped right through the wettest part of the park. Unfortunately, this area was right between the pavilion and the playground.
This was
after he had wiped up a good portion of the mud on his leg.
It was a really great bunch of kids, and Malcolm seemed to have a pretty good time. All those years of being a summer camp counselor at the YMCA really payed off when running the games with the kids. Who knew that was such an important parenting skill?
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