7!

Our boy is now 7 years old!  We celebrated by having a party at the house where he invited his classmates/friends over for a party. 

He thought of the theme - Greek Gods.  I can't tell you how creative he was in thinking up games and ideas for the party.  But no matter.  All 7 year-old boys want is room to run!

We bagged the games idea after we saw what 18 (!) boys looked like running around the yard.  Darts (throw the lightning spear) to pop the balloon no longer seemed feasible, or safe.

The eating contest that Landon so ingeniously thought of (Cronus ate his children) wasn't going to be necessary.  Those cookies would better just be given to the boys while they wait for pizza.

It was wild.  It was loud.  It was fun.  It was ALL outside.

As each boy arrived, Landon showed them the name tags pre-written with the Gods he chose.  They selected a Greek God to be, put the name tag on, chose between the 3 colors of t-shirts.  Once they had their t-shirt on, we gave them a flashlight and wrote their "name" on it and sent them outside.  It was an evening party which was perfect for flashlights and they were the hit of the night.

I of course liked the t-shirts that I spent many hours on using freezer-paper stenciling.  I bought the t-shirt packs at Wal-Mart.  Originally I was going to buy $3 Ts but then a nice woman in the store suggested I buy undershirts.  Perfect!  I was able to buy 5 for $6.99.  Much better.  I just had to buy 10-12s so they actually fit loosely and not too snug.

We played "Lightning Beam Tag" for at least an hour.  One person would count, everyone else would hide.  When that person found someone, they turned on their "beam" and found others.  We continued until everyone was found.  This meant I frequently had to line everyone up to count heads to make sure we had all the Greek Gods. There was only a couple moments of panic when we had some participants who were advanced at hiding.  It was pitch dark outside and I just hoped no one went to far back into the woods!

We went from backyard to front yard and then to backyard again.  The boys refused to have me open the gate for them - they all wanted to climb over.  All Boys I tell you.

It was the biggest entertaining success in my mind.  A flurry of activity and I really think each and every boy had fun.  They all were out playing together, eating together, and laughing screaming together!

These two little minis wanted to get out there but we were worried they'd be trampled!