that was the craziest kid party ever. I think a few parents might have been slightly appalled at the party props made out of unstable-looking bricks, splintery boards, string just waiting to trip you up and catapult you to disaster, and giant boxes pulled out from behind the appliance store. But it was super fun!!! I think a lot of the kids had not experienced non-toy toys before, if you know what I mean - things not bought for a specific purpose and meant to be played with a certain way.
No one got seriously hurt, though Moomin scraped his elbow. A couple of the littlest kids were too scared by the mayhem. They stayed inside playing with toys...
The first batch of kids - around 10 of them? Went through the adventure but the dragon at the end fazed them ... RJ was amazing in his green makeup and claw slippers! Wow! Moomin was confident and brave, in the vanguard with his crown, cape, and sword!
A few kids trickled in later and went through the adventure... and then lots more did it a second time and even a third. By that time they were super comfortable with our Dragon, who emerged from the lair. Merlin helped me get the water balloons and we ambushed him! Fabulous action! Screaming! Foam swords bashing! Daring attacks and retreats! The bouncing of half-full balloons, scooped up and hurled back by the Dragon! Parents splashed! It was good.
The adventure was as follows. They follow the signs to the Bird Queen's Castle (our front deck, done up with sheets and stuffed animals, and my sister in a pink fairy costume, pink wig, and birds on her head) She gave them swords, explained they had to follow (but not touch) the magic dragon fire balls that were the clues. Then they went through the window into the office (magician's study) down a slide and out the door. Even the older kids seemed aware of the coolness of going through a window in such a strange way. (no cynics!)
Then into the mysterious caves! Tunnels! (the boxes - painted yesterday by me and Rook, and decorated with hanging bats and spiders) The castle at the end - then the large splintery scary board, perched on two wooden nightstands I found by the side of the road outside the Salvation Army (hah) and running over some red blankets with stuffed animals... a lot of warning signs "HOT LAVA!" "BEWARE OF MONSTERS!" and thru the Gate of Doom. (the back gate into Pilot and Acrobat's house)
T. was the giant guide and tried to teach them how to do armpit farts to fool the Barking Spiders in the Spider Forest. It didn't quite take. They did some raspberries and rude noises finally! And clearly they liked it - just unsure how to deal with this strange adult doing weird things. Keep in mind these are kids who have been going to that same wonderful yet unnaturally calm, quaaludey, super-controlled politeness-hegemony-installation Montressori school for the last few years. So they finally made fart noises! ha!!! Onward to the spider forest - which was 800 feet of twine set up in a large crawly-weird web by me and Rook this morning. with spiders and some lemur victims caught in it (Moomin was upset and insisted on rescuing them). Around the corner to the tent and RJ the Dragon, delightfully green and glittery and wide-eyed and roarish!
That was the adventure! I'm so glad they liked it!
Oh wait, i left out the part with the pit full of rusty nails.
2 kids spending the night. I don't think I can ever go this far "all-out" again! I hope Moomin remembers it fondly! I certainly will. next year I shall simply rent a bounce house? sheesh, this was more work than I thought it would be!!!
I always liked my own parties when I was a kid, and they were always strange compared to other people's, with things like egg and spoon races with prizes... Also, no one else had piñatas (that i ever knew. Here, piñatas are almost expected! My mom was really good at organizing a party.
Wow. You are the best mother ever. Seriously. Nobody *ever* went to that kind of trouble for me or any other kid I knew, a generation past. It was like, buy a cake and a few balloons, and hope nobody barfs.
Congrats on things going so well.
Posted by: toobeaut | March 26, 2005 at 06:16 PM
Here's RJ, looking incredibly scary for a whole bunch of 5 year olds! He was so splendid!
Posted by: badgerbag | March 26, 2005 at 06:59 PM