Here are all the kids sleeping everywhere in Lily and Kate's room.
The next day was the actual party where the Eddins, my sister's kids, the cul-de-sac kids and 2 friends from school came over. Kate did not want a big party. Ugh! Tried my best. Anyway...Kate wanted a Super Mario party and Lily wanted a craft party. They both really wanted the decorations to be blue. So we had a Blue Mario Craft Party. It took SO much work, but was well worth it. I decided to try to save money this year and do it all myself. We ended up only spending money on the crafts and I had all the supplies left over for my "one-craft-a-day-is-not-enough" daughter, Lily.
Here's the cake I came up with. I drew Mario holding a painting palate. This was my first time in over a year to give in to Lily's desire to write her name with 2 LL's (Lilly). She has been writing it this way for over a year because she thinks it looks prettier. So far, I've been holding fast to my original spelling. Well, it was her birthday...and what's an extra "L" anyway? She was so happy to see her cake.
The jist of the party game was to proceed through different levels to rescue Princess Peach. At each level, there was a task to complete. We had scrolls to unravel and read that told us what to do next at each level. I planned the activity at each level and Phil wrote the scroll to coordinate the activity with the Mario theme since he is the Mario expert. I wanted to get more pictures and remember everything, but once the party got started, it was all I could do to keep up! Here's what I remember...
1st scroll: "First, let's make a loot bag to carry all of your treasure from your journey." They decorated a brown paper bag with beads, stickers and their name. When they finished this task, they were granted the 2nd scroll.
2nd scroll: "Princess Peach has lost her crown. Let's make one to give to her when we find her." They decorated foam crowns with glue, jewels and feathers.
3rd scroll: "Beware! Danger ahead! You need to navigate through the Galaxy of Asteroids. (go to the trampoline)." On the trampoline were 50 small bouncy balls. Each child could collect 3 balls. The one who found the one with the star on it, got a bonus prize.
This was a little hairy with that many kids rushing the trampoline at a pediatrician's house...so no picture!
4th scroll: "A new enemy is upon us. Look out for the Goomba. Bop them on the head and they will give up a surprise. (Go to the dining room.)" I filled the dining room floor with gold balloons. Inside them were 1-2 gold coins so that when they popped them, they could collect the coins. This was a LOUD activity! But not loud enough, I also put bubble wrap on the floor to make it louder. Hee-hee!
5th scroll: "To complete our adventure, we need to get Princess Peach a jewel box for her jewels. Make one!" Then we went back to the craft table to paint a small cardboard jewel box. Each child was able to choose one special jewel to glue to the top.
6th scroll: "You will need energy on your journey. Go burst the pinata and refuel." One of the highlights of the party prep was making this pinata. Lily and Kate just LOVED it! I will definitely be doing this again next year.
7th scroll: "We will need a special necklace to help us defeat Bowser. Make one to fight Bowser!" They strung colored and differently shaped beads on a necklace string.
8th scroll: "Next, we need to send Princess Peach a signal letting her know of our location. Grab a partner and have them draw your outline in chalk on the driveway so she will know we are near."
This picture makes me laugh. Kate is my tomboy and her two best buddies are her cousin, Daniel and her friend, Sam. There has been a little jealousy over who is Kate's best friend in the past and at this point in the party, both wanted to outline Kate. I heard, "No! She said she wanted ME to draw her!" So we compromised and both got to draw half of her. I think my sweet, shy Kate felt very special. :)
9th scroll: "We have just received a message that Princess Peach has seen our signals and is near by. Find her!" This was the highlight of the day. It was a really windy day, so Phil tied Princess Peach to the end of a kite and flew her over the house so that, if they were looking closely, they could see her flying in the sky above them as they laid on the ground tracing each other in the driveway. Can you see her on the end of the kite's tail? (She is a pink groovy doll.)
Once they realized where she was, there was a mad dash out to the field where Phil was standing with the kite...
Phil teased them by flying her low enough to jump and touch her, then he would pull the string and she would swoop back high in the sky. Finally, the big kids caught her!
Phil makes me sick. I had been planning this party for weeks and he came up with this idea half-way through the party on the fly. It was clearly the ultimate highlight of the party!
Then we went in for cake and ice cream with two happy little girls and lots of giggling.
The whole Mario crew...
A thousand thanks to my helpers, Cole, Gracie, Lilly N. and Lilly N's mom. I could not have pulled this off without the four of you!
