Yesterday was Superbowl Sunday and it was a great football game, but before the chips and dip came out, we had an entirely different set of games to play. You see, although I'd originally scheduled Smunch's birthday party for the 13th, too many of his guests were going to be out of town, so we rescheduled for Superbowl Sunday, with the goal of being done a good 90 minutes before kickoff...because even if the guests and their families had no interest in watching the game, I knew the guest of honor would not appreciate missing it. Not for anything!
Originally, Smunch requested a chess party and I agonized about that a little bit because not all the guests were avid chess players. Somewhere along the line, I realized that I could still include chess if I made it a board game party. So, after getting the cake all put together, strung the kitchen in streamers and picked up balloons, we whipped out the fun kid games - chess, checkers, Connect Four, Uno, Sorry, Jenga, dominoes, and Twister.
I wasn't sure how it would all work out, but it turned out to be a great idea, especially with a couple extra volunteers to help. We started off the party by having each of the kids make their own English muffin pizzas (wish I'd thought to take pictures of them!), then they went and played (or watched) a game of their choice while I popped their cute little pizzas in the oven. We supplemented with some fun football-shaped pretzels, popcorn, strawberries and carrots, with fizzy pink lemonade. It all went over pretty well!
After lunch, Daddy facilitated as the boys (and Mam) played Twister. I knew it would probably be a fun game for them, but it was truly hysterical.
Most of the boys had very good humor about it...all, but Smunch, who hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before. He confessed he'd woken up at 5:45 and had a ridiculous tantrum the first time he fell over playing Twister. Still, I don't think it dampened the fun for any of them.
Shortly before cake time, Daddy took the more active kids out to play soccer in the front yard for a little bit. 
A few of the "quieter" kids stayed in and played with the dominoes. They weren't technically "playing" dominoes, but building things with them and screetching as they fell over.
I took lots of photos of the cake in its final moments. After all, it's not much to look at afterwards!
And then it was time. The kids were all excited to get to taste some of the chess pieces, but not before some singing and candle blowing.
Of course, it turns out that this cake wasn't the least bit easy to cut! With the solid chocolate checkerboard on the top, I sort of had to chisel my way through.
It worked out though...and the cake was pretty yummy too. Of course, it was huge, so it was only half gone when the boys were done. Then Daddy took all those boys, all hopped up on sugar, out for a game of tug-o-war in the front yard. It was the perfect end to a pretty great party!
Each of the boys left happy with a little bag of chocolate chess pieces and a box of checkers, chess and backgammon. And now another week and a bit before I actually have an 8-year-old!You may have noticed there were a lot of Daddy-facilitated activities at this party. It's true. I totally let him take on the brunt of the during-party work. By the time I've got the party favors figured out, planned all the food, gotten decorations and made yet another ridiculous cake, I'm apparently worthless. At least I managed to take some pictures!
2 comments:
C had such a great time. He kept saying it was so fun. The party favors were adorable and that cake was GORGEOUS and DELICIOUS. Yum! Thanks so much - C loved it all. I hope G had a great day!
Looks like it was great fun to me and the smiles on the faces say it all. Daddy is a "good egg" for helping out like he did. Excellent team work!
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