The Party Post

So, we had the big 13 yo birthday party, and it was a huge success! Patrick invited a whopping 29 guests, but lucky for us, we ended up with 17. Along with our 3 kids we had 20 here at least some of the time. This made for a really nice size crowd. It was big enough that Patrick still felt like he was having a BIG party, and it wasn't so many that it was a real squash just to have them all in the house. It also turned out to be a really good number of people for the two games we had planned that called for breaking up into teams. In each case we ended up going with 4 teams - and the teams were small enough that everyone really had a role in the game.

My mom was the first one to suggest a scavenger hunt, and we all thought it was a good idea. But, none of us had ever organized one and of course we didn't get around to real planning until a day or two before the party. So, we were a little stumped as to how to go about it. Then, Chelsea had a brainstorm, and if you ask me, it was a stroke of genius! Here's what we did....

We made a list of math problems and the answers to the problems were house numbers. Each math problem had a code word with it. Once you figured out the math problem, you knew which house to go to to say that code word. Then, you had to find the house, knock on the door and say the code word to the person who answered. If you had the right code, the person there would give you an object. The first team to collect all 6 objects would win. I am really baffled as to how Chelsea thought of this, but it worked out perfectly. She even took on the job of walking around the neighborhood recruiting neighbors to participate!

Is this legal...can they make us do math at a birthday party??

On the run...

Next we headed down to the elementary school to tire them out some more ;-) They played capture the flag, soccer, four square, basketball, and did gymnastics.

Oddly enough, Andy has the ice cream man's phone number in his cell phone, so we called him and asked him to come by.

It was getting dark by the time we headed back home. After pizza and salad for dinner, we moved on to a game that has been a staple of Patrick's birthday parties for years..."Who Knows Patrick Best?"
In the past, we've done this in sort of a game show format, with teams sitting on opposite sides of the room, taking turns answering questions, and the ability to 'steal' a question from the opposing team if they miss it. This time, Patrick wanted to go with a written test.

We were careful to put kids from both neighborhood and school on each team, so they could answer all types of questions. We put each team in a room, and they went to work...



Then, Patrick graded the tests aloud in dramatic fashion, while everyone huddled around him.
There were 35 questions and we ended with a tie for first place with 23 correct answers. We gave a quick 2 question tie breaker quiz, but it was still a tie after that, so we let both teams split the prize.
Next, we headed back outside for some flashlight tag. Soon, it was getting close to time for the girls to head home, so we went back in for cake and presents.

The highlight of the boys' sleepover portion of the party was the midnight trip back to the elementary school for more capture the flag. Andy took them down there around 11pm, and they didn't get back until 1:30am! Apparently it was a roaring success. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is going to fast become yet another sleepover tradition.

Happy Birthday Patrick!