I cannot begin to describe how excited this new little 5-year-old boy was for all of his friends to arrive and celebrate his special day with him!
I had found each guest's coat of arms on the internet and made it into a placemat for them to keep. I was surprised how easy it was to find everyone's. The kids really thought it was fun finding their last name and seeing what theirs looked like.
After all the guests arrived we went outside for a couple games. The first was a relay on stick horses.
Some of the younger siblings needed a little help from mom juggling the horse and sword!
Then we played a version of sharks and minnows, where the birthday boy was a fierce dragon in the middle and everyone had to run across to the other side without getting caught. If they did, then they had to attach to him forming a big long tail (and making it much more difficult for the dragon to maneuver quickly).
After the games I told the kids that with all this practice they had proven they were all brave knights and princesses. Now it was time for the real thing...that in the dungeon of the John Castle there was a real dragon that needed to be slayed. I said that if we were able to slay the dragon that there would be a candy reward. I think I made it a little too real because one little knight didn't want to go see at first. :) They all did though and were much relieved that it was a dragon pinata! It turned out to be a fierce battle. This dragon had some seriously tough skin! But after everyone took a number of turns, the candy poured out to reward the victors.
All these activities left everyone ready for some yummy Medieval grub--at least the toddler version. :)
Alex isn't a big dessert person. He isn't very fond of cake in general, but 2 weeks before when I had made a Tres Leches cake for Cinco de Mayo, he inhaled it. So he decided that was what he wanted to have on his birthday. We put maraschino cherry pieces on the pieces of cake for those who were brave enough to eat "dragon eyeballs." The funny thing was that Alex still hardly touched it! He was way too excited to play with his friends.
When it was time to open presents Alex was very gracious and remembered his "present-opening manners." Considering how excited he was, I found this quite remarkable.
Man, do I ever love this little guy! I can't believe he's already 5 and headed to kindergarten this Fall.
No comments:
Post a Comment