Happy Birthday Harry Potter!

July 31 - For fun in July, we read Harry Potter #1 and then celebrated his birthday on July 31st by watching the movie.  We made Wizard hats and wands and painted on scars.  We had some "bertie botts beans".  (They were really Jelly Bellys because I couldn't find them anywhere and didn't plan ahead enough to order them online, but Logan was convinced they were the real thing and that he got a booger one...)  We made Butter beer (not a hit with the kids!) and Golden snitches and licorice wands for treats.  It was so fun and the kids loved it!  I think it was my favorite movie night yet. 

My little wizards - Logan

Avery

Rylee

Logan and his Golden Snitch

Logan casting a pretty serious spell - I loved that after this the kids played Harry Potter together for a few days.  It was so cute! 

Our treats - worms, "bertie bott" jelly beans, licorice wands (which the kids hated) and Golden snitches made from Ferrero Rocher with some vellum wings.  Those were the favorite for sure. 

WE made these wands out of chopsticks.  We just put hot glue on in random patterns and painted over them.  The kids thought they were the coolest thing ever. 

Butter beer.  The kids thought this was gross.  And it kind of was.  I guess I should try another recipe next time. 

Happy Birthday, Harry! 

Kicking off the Olympics

 July 27 - We love any excuse to celebrate at our house and I am a bit of an Olympics addict.  We watched them as much as we could for those 2 weeks.  I was so bummed when I looked at the calendar and realized that Darren was going to be at youth conference for the Olympic Opening Ceremony.  I wanted to have a fun viewing party and I was so excited for it.  Luckily, my good friend, Summer, was without a hubby, too.  (He was in Austraila for work.) So, we had a fun little party with the kids. We had lots of festive food and enjoyed watching the ceremonies.  Or at least part of them.  They went pretty late and the kids didn't last that long.  We especially enjoyed the Beatles tribute (Summer is a huge Beatles fan) and the kids loved the part that featured the giant Voldemort and Mary Poppins. 

We started out the party by making some little mini pizzas.  (We kind of tried to stick to a round theme for food.  Like the rings...)   Logan decorating his pizza

Rylee's pizza

 

While the pizzas were baking, the kids each made their own little Olympic posters.  Rylee made a USA one.  I love watching her color.

Logan made one of the Olympic rings

 Sky's poster

 Rylee working on her poster

Avery's cute poster

Cute baby Rain

Our Olympic food - I got a bit obsessed with having some themed treats! 

We had mini bagels with fruit.  I used the colors of the rings. 

Olympic ring cupcakes

Some gold medals

Olympic torches to eat during the ceremonies - So cheesy but the kids loved it! 

How cute are these friends?  Sky, Avery and Rylee - Sky has now moved and we miss her lots! 

The kids ready for the opening ceremonies to start.  Logan was going CRAZY!!! 

If you can't tell, Logan was pretty excited about the Olympics.  He got really into them.  I love the look Avery is giving him in this picture.

 Modeling their gold medals.  I don't know why it is so hard to get a good picture of 4 kids together...

 

 

My 2 handsome boys ready to cheer on the USA!

The kids insisted that Bronson have a gold medal, too. 

What a fun night we had with our friends!  We miss them so much!  Maybe we will have to visit Australia!  The kids got so into the Olympics and cheering on the US.  They also each picked another country to cheer for and we kept careful track of the medals.  It got pretty competitive!  We loved it!  So many amazing athletes and stories.

NinjaGO!

July 2 - I thought I finished all of Logan's birthday posts, but I missed one.  His party with his friends!  It was a fun little party, if I do say so myself.  Last year he had a pretty awesome Star Wars birthday party.  I don't know if I can ever outdo that one.  With a new baby and a really busy summer, I wasn't sure I could take on another big party like that, so I tried to talk him into something easier for me, like going to the Fun Park.  But, he insisted that he have another "awesome party" and requested fun games and activities like his Star Wars one.  He wanted a Lego Ninjago theme, which I wasn't too familiar with.  I wasn't sure I was up to the challenge, but I found a few ideas online and we made it work.  Darren is a pretty good partner in crime and helped me out a lot.  Especially with the artistic stuff.  That is not my specialty!  It turned out to be a pretty fun party and Logan loved it! The games I had planned were kind of thrown together and some of them didn't quite work out, but the boys didn't really seem to notice.  They had a great time!  I stole all of my ideas from some very elaborate parties posted on blogs.  Mine were very simplified versions of those ideas, but they worked.  Happy to have another successful birthday party in the books.  I'm not sure how many more of these I can do! 

Party decor

As party favors, the kids got to take home the nun chucks made from foam and also these little pretzel nun chucks.

 

 Some kid friendly sushi for a party snack

 Kai's Fire Punch (or Gatorade)

 

The cake - I showed Logan lots of different cake options online, but this was the one he wanted.  That was awesome because it was one of those edible images you just put on the cake.  Super easy for Mom! And he LOVED it because it had all the ninjago guys on it.  (This was BEFORE the green ninja came out...)

The birthday boy ready to party! 

 

These are the Golden weapons of Spinjitsu.  They are a big part of Ninjago. There are the Scythe of Quakes, the Nunchucks of Lightning, the Shurikens of Ice, and the Sword of Fire. Darren helped me construct these.  They were part of the party.  The kids had to complete different challenges to earn each weapon.  Totally cheesy but they loved it! 

Logan showing off the homemade nun chucks

While we waited for everyone to arrive, the guests watched Ninjago cartoons.  Here are Morgan J, Jace S and Ethan S

Same group but also with Tyler G

Logan, James R and Spencer G - They are looking pretty into the show! 

Spencer S

Rylee joined the party, too.  Logan was pretty good to let both his sisters crash the party.

For our first activity, each kid got a Ninja headband and then we read a little bit about Ninjago and the art of Spinjitsu and the Golden Weapons.  They were totally into it! 

The first quest was to go on a little scavenger hunt for the hidden Scythe of Quakes.  They found it pretty quickly.  I think it might have been a bit too easy.

Can you tell Logan is excited? 

Next, they had to use the Ninja stars to knock these balls off the pillars to earn the next golden weapon, the Shurikens of Ice.  Spencer G giving it a try

Ethan S

Finally earned the weapon! 

Next, they had to do a balance challenge.  They had to use these pool noodles to keep the balloon up in the air. The wind proved to be a bit of a problem, but the kids were having a blast!   When they complete this, they earned the Nun chucks of Lightning.  

Their last challenge was to defeat Lord Garmadon to earn the Sword of fire.  Logan really wanted a pinata, so this challenge worked out great.  Darren constructed this for me and it turned out awesome!  Much better than buying one! 

Logan taking some swings

James

Morgan

The free for all after it busted open!

The party boys - Morgan J, Jace S, Ethan S, Spencer G, James R, Logan, Tyler G and Spencer S

Ninja poses! 

With the golden weapons they earned!

Next, we had our sushi and juice and opened presents. 

My little girl ninjas! 

Jace and Ethan watching Logan open presents

Logan has such a great group of little friends.  They are really well behaved boys and it was a fun party!  Logan got some great stuff!  His friends know him well and got him LOTS of Legos!  He was in heaven!  He also got a pretty awesome water gun. 

Ninjago Legos!  He is a happy boy! 

Then it was time to eat some cake! 

Logan with Mom and Dad

Blowing out the candles.... 

Cute boys ready for some cake!  Spencer G, Spencer S, Morgan J, James R and Tyler G

Jace S, Ethan S, Logan and little Avery

The birthday boy enjoying his cake

Avery liked the cake, too!

Spencer G excited to try out his new Nun chucks.  We didn't give these out until the very end!  I was smart enough to know that 8 little boys with weapons is not the best idea!  They loved them though and were excited to take them home. 

My cute little ninjas!  Logan was so excited for Bronson to have a little ninja headband, too! 

My littlest ninjas!

What a fun day!  I was exhausted by the end of the party!  I think I will try and encourage the Fun Park again next year...  At least birthdays only come once a year.  I do love planning them, but they are so much work!