The party is over! After hosting our 'ninja training' party it was definitely one of those nights where you want to put your feet up with a glass of wine. It was so much fun but it it didn't come without a lot of work!
The boys loved every minute. They had so much fun with all their friends and loved all their training games. They were really well behaved as were all their little friends and it truly was just such a nice group of people who were there. I think the most interesting part for me was watching how the different age groups related to the games and activities. I had the kids broken in Cole's Ninja Team and Sam's ninja team to keep the age groups level. In some games the older kids were amazing - Sensai says and Ninja bingo were two games they really did well at. However, when fighting ninja bop bags the little ones took their job very seriously and did really well!
Here are a few pictures of the big party. I have a friend who took a bunch more so I am hoping she got some shots as well...my hands were way to full to be holding a camera so Grandpa was on picture duty. This ninja training was serious business.
Ninja cupcakes....we've got a lot of leftovers
We started the party with kids outside decorating origami ninja starts (yes, we painstakingly folded every one) and then they got to throw them at some hula hoops for target practice. Then we brought them all into our living room and got them ready for ninja training. After a quick clip from the Ninjago movie they were split into their age groups and were off to ninja training. We had three games set up in the garage and three set up outside (thank goodness it didn't rain). They were all great hits!
Straw and bean blowdarts...gotta knock down those bad ninjas
Then it just became how far could you spit the bean seed into the greenspace
Ninja bop bags and pool noodles. What can be more fun that hitting ninjas with pool noodles. These were the highlight of the birthday - and only $1 at the dollar store - so I wasn't too bummed when the kids ran out and totally decimated them all at the end of the party.
Sensai says....those ninjas have to learn to be obedient!
Ninja Bingo. The kids had to find hidden paper ninjas around the yard. The older group was so good at this and it was so fun to watch them work as a team. If someone couldn't find one everyone would run off to help them.
Rice, Lego's and chopsticks. Easy and so entertaining. I've kept the rice bin for summer fun too. Just hid the Lego's in rice and use chopsticks to uncover them!
Ninja fortune cookie toss (and of course some to eat as well)
After all the centers were finished we came back to together and kids were presented with their ninja headbands. The only glitch at the party was at this point, kids were supposed to find their seat and dig into their pizza. However, our pizza was late! Luckily there was lots of veggies and fruit to eat first and the pizza did eventually come!
Then, it was time for cake.
Cole first!
Sam was next. The crazy kid acted too cool as everyone sang to him...we knew he loved every minute though!
Dig in!
Homemade pinatas - one for each boy!
The boys would tell you their favorite parts were the pinatas. They really were a ton of fun. I guess I made them pretty sturdy because we eventually had a couple dads take a swing at them too to help loosen them up a bit.
We decided to forgo a formal gift opening but a couple of the boys friends stayed late and wanted them to open their gifts. It didn't take much convincing...
Before the party Eliza modeled her princess ninja dress. Ok, actually it is Korean but she didn't seem to mind. When I was in Korea in 1998 we purchased this dress in anticipating that one day a little girl would fit into it...it was so fun putting it on her!
Eliza was at the party too - but not hanging off my hip! We hired our new babysitter to come and play with her to free up our hands for all the people at our place (59 people came - wowsers!). It was probably the best $30 we spent on this party. Eliza loved the extra attention and we had our hands free to train the little ninjas.
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