Lego Birthday Bash

Harrison and Noah had yet to ever have a friend birthday party - so I decided we'd do something this year.  For 3 years in a row we moved right before their birthdays, and then last year, I was pregnant and exhausted, and so it didn't happen.  Since their birthdays are so close together (8 days apart) and they share so many common interests and friends, and combined birthday seemed like the perfect solution. Noah's birthday landed on Saturday this year, so the party was on his birthday.  We would be leaving for Disney World the day after Harrison's birthday, so it was nice to get the celebrations done a week before. The theme for the party was easy - LEGOs.  They have both been obsessed for several years, and it made decorations easy - as we already own so many.

Diagon Alley, Quidditch, the haunted forrest and Toy Story were on the room separator.  

Ninjago on one shelf.

Star wars and City took over the mantel.  

We just tied strings to normal balloons, and pinned them to the ceiling for a floating balloon effect.  I've heard that helium is going to run out in our lifetime, so this may become a much more common alternative!

I made each of the boys a mini-figure shirt to wear to the party, but Noah opted for his Ninjago shirt he got for his birthday that morning.

I will admit to pinning lots of ideas on pinterest in the months and weeks leading up to their birthday.  One of my favorite ideas that I used was a lego pinata.  My favorite part about the whole thing was that it was a trap door pinata, so no stick or blindfold needed.

 Each boy took a turn pulling a string, but only one "magic" string released the candy inside: 

We also did  a "guess how many" lego jar. I was kind of surprised how little the boys inspected the the jar before guessing.  They we almost all way off, only one guess was anywhere close.  But still fun.

This, along with a "Design your own Mini-figure" were the activities we had going when they arrived.  I was surprised they actually enjoyed the coloring, at least for a little while.  I panicked for a moment realizing that some of these boys were 9, and were maybe above "coloring," but I guess the mini-figure idea was enough to keep it interesting.

We did a lego toss:

And create your own minifig.  We had bowls of heads, bodies, legs, and accessories, and they each came up with a creation:

Even Sam got in on the action:

I've decided the ideal birthday cake for kids is cupcakes.  I really hate having half a cake leftover, and extra cupcakes can easily be sent home with guests as a favor if they want.  They also seem to be easier to decorate.  For this I just molded some candy melts in lego shapes with some ice cube trays I got on amazon.  Simple.

Here's all the boys enjoying cake, ice cream and pizza, the birthday party staples!

And we ended the party with some Lego games, and Ninjago battles, of course.

For favors we did lego shaped candy, coloring books with lego crayons, and a birthday mini-figure.

which all fit nicely into their lego bag: 

Maybe I went a little overboard, but I think birthdays are a fun way for moms to release some creative energy, while celebrating their children at the same time.  I do like to follow a few guidelines to keep it under control - short and small.  Note we didn't have 30 boys running around our house.  We kept the invite list to 8 boys, and the party was  1 1/2 hours.  The boys had a great time, and so did their friends.  Maybe I wont wait another 9 years before throw them another one!