Tyler's 8!

Saturday, Tyler turned 8! 

Friday was Breakfast with Moms at his school. I joined him at school for a school breakfast. I think we were both happy that he normally eats breakfast at home. But, it was nice to spend time together.

That afternoon, I brought Whoopie Pies for his birthday treat. My favorite part was being able to take him to and from school that day since he normally rides the bus.

Saturday, after the breakfast of his choice (hashbrowns, eggs, toast, and sausage), we headed to the kids' Dentist's office for their Patient Appreciation day. The kids enjoyed checking out the fire truck, police car, and playing some games.

We came home and let Tyler open his birthday gifts from us. Including a Leatherman multi-tool. (Daddy thought this was a good gift for camping trips). A package from Grandpa Norm and Grandma Carol arrived just as he finished opening our gifts. Great timing! With lots of safety advice, and direction from Daddy, Tyler carefully used his new knife to open his new toys. I was scurrying around getting prepared for the afternoon party and came upstairs to find Wayne washing Tyler's finger at the sink. Tyler was trying to open the knife and cut his finger. Wayne told me he thought Tyler might need stitches. So, Tyler's first trip to the ER was on his eighth birthday. I told Tyler this would be a birthday he wouldn't forget. (He argued that it ruined his birthday, but I think it turned out alright after all). The doctor suggested that he could glue it, but it would heal with just a bandaid, so we just did that. Whew!

Here he is, after we made it back home.

In the afternoon, he had a few friends over for a Ninja/Ninjago themed birthday party. (I must credit most of my ideas/planning to Craft Interrupted).  We had originally intended to start the party with a game of minigolf, but Saturday was the coldest day we've had yet this fall (I think it was in the upper 40's) and it was spitting rain on and off. So, we just stayed at our house.

We started with a treasure hunt. Here, they are hunting for a clue in the Legos.

Here, they were instructed to each pop a balloon by sitting on it to receive their next clue. (I didn't realize Wayne was video taping...but you'll see that I wondered if this was such a good idea after all...).

Their "treasure" was personalized Ninja headbands.

Next, they all worked on decoding their "Ninja names."

 Then, of course, we needed to take some Ninja pictures (with Sensei Wu beards).

There was a game of "pin the beard on Sensei Wu" which they got a kick out of.

Then, they decorated their Ninja stars and practiced throwing them.

I made a Ninjago pinata. (Something I've never done before, so Wayne and I worried it would all be over too soon). Luckily, it lasted for everyone to have at least 3 turns before it finally opened.




Afterward, they jumped on the trampoline with the pinata until not much remained...



A little picture of the table, (Chinese takeout boxes held the party treats).  We had snacks, including Fushi (fake sushi from rice krispie treats).

We played a little game that we planned to call "Poor Kitty." But, true to the ninja theme, it morphed into "I'm Sensei Wu, I like to drink tea..." (The goal is to try not to smile, or you are "it"...I don't think anyone was able to stay out of the middle).

 

Happy Birthday, Tyler! We love you!!!

We ended the evening with dinner at Ziggy's - Tyler's (new) favorite pizza place.

Sunday, we celebrated with Ted and Sue. Dinner was Tyler's request - we had shrimp cocktail, chicken curry with rice, pickles, spinach salad, cheese, etc. We skyped with Aunt Rachel, Jillian and Reid, and later talked to Grandpa Norm on the phone. What a great way to wrap up a fun birthday weekend!