Eight Years Old

Zach turns eight the end of this month. So last Saturday, we rented the gymnasium at a local church and threw him a Pokémon-themed birthday party.

Upon arrival, the guests were placed into Pokémon teams. Then for the next two hours, we put a room full of second graders through a grueling battery of Pokémon training exercises, including piñata smacking, balloons batting, basket shooting, relay racing, and finally, group singing and ice cream cake consumption.

Phoebe's Birthday Bash

Our house was full of Phoebe's friends today as we threw her a Fairy Realm-themed birthday party.

Loosely following the storyline in the Fairy Realm book series, each of the guests had to steal an enchanted bracelet from the evil Valda, thus enabling them to find magical wish stones, paint butterflies, transport griffin eggs on a spoon, play pin-the-horn-on-the-Unicorn, and eat bubble-gum flavored ice-cream cake.

Various and sundry gifts were given and received, including roller skates, several dolls, new pajamas, a Webkinz pet, and a bunch of other stuff that I didn't really pay attention to, as it was mostly pink and frilly and princess and/or fairy-oriented. Pictured to the left: a dress-up princess gown which Phoebe changed into almost immediately after unwrapping and wore for the rest of the day.

Special thanks goes out to Aunt Melissa for the outstanding homemade birthday card featuring this (somewhat terrifying) photoshopped image of Phoebe as a Disney Princess.

Party Preparations

In preparation for today's party, Phoebe decorated her own birthday cake -- which was (by Phoebe's specific request) made with only the finest bubble-gum-flavored ice cream known to humanity.

I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that this was quite possibly the most obscenely decadent birthday cake ever.

Ye Olde Birth-Day Partie

We celebrated Benjamin's 4th birthday over the weekend with a big knight-themed birthday bash.

As the guests arrived, they were given swords, asked to find a magical chalice, sent on a quest to slay an evil, fire-breathing dragon (courageously played by Uncle Andrew in a dragon costume), and recover the treasures of the kingdom.

In celebration of the dragon's defeat, gifts were opened, birthday candles were extinguished, and cake was eaten.

It was great fun for everyone. Except maybe for Uncle Andrew, who, as the dragon, was pummed with inflatable swords and water balloons.