I’m pretty excited to share with you Mason’s Army 5th Birthday Party! I was so worried that this shin-dig wasn’t going to happen. Last Sunday/Monday my three children all had a NASTY stomach bug. Luckily it only lasted 24 hours.
Unluckily, they went to daycare on Tuesday only to come home with a note that there were several confirmed cases of Coxsackie (hand, foot and mouth disease). Panic set in at that point! The next day? My husband woke up with the same stomach bug and my daughter came home with a note from her day camp that they had a confirmed case of head lice. Are you kidding me? Oh wait, it gets better.
Friday morning rolls around and guess who wakes up with that nasty stomach bug? ME! UGH. Thankfully Saturday found us all relatively healthy and we were able to enjoy the 90+ degree day (much of the time was spent in our pool!).
The Army Birthday Party food preparations
I made the jello push-ups using my cake push-pop containers. I started with the green jello, let it set overnight and added in the second yellow layer. I blacked out the Kaboo lettering on the side, poked holes in the bottom and stuck the push-pops in. Great addition to the tablescape… even if the jello melted within an hour… thankfully the majority had been eaten and the liquid version didn’t stop the kids from eating the rest!
The main table held the Fry Box favors, Fruit Kabobs and Camo Corn (popcorn with green/brown m&m’s). It was just way too warm to keep the cupcakes on display, so the open space was reserved for when I brought those out.
The green table cloths came from Dollar Tree, I made the banner (and it is available for free download here), I found the Uncle Sam poster online and printed it out. The fishing net backdrop was also from the Dollar Tree, as were the mini flags. The camo dinnerware was from Birthday Direct. Everything else was from around my home.
I created the cupcake stand with plates and candlesticks I found at the Dollar Tree. I totally chipped the plate driving out of the parking lot, but you couldn’t really see it once the cupcakes were on it.
I made the cupcake toppers available as a free download here. I made camo cupcakes by scooping 1/3 chocolate cake, 1/3 vanilla cake and 1/3 vanilla cake turned green, per cupcake. MRE’s from www.mre-meals.net and personalized dog tags from www.gotags.com! I made another gift bag pinata and it worked just as well as the last one.
An Army Birthday Party style game
My son also requested there be an obstacle course. He talked about this for weeks! And he also REALLY wanted paratroopers.
Start out on the balance beam, dash under the saw horses, through the tires, up the ladder, drop a paratrooper (which they got to bring home), slide down the slide and into the pool. The basic training and parachute deployment signs are available for download here.
I was surprised by how much fun the kids had with the course. They did it again and again just for fun! I was the “Major” and blew a whistle that told the next child in line to start. My only blunder… not unfolding the parachutes on the army men. That caused a bit of a bottleneck at first until I got Grandma to unfold them so they’d be ready for the kids. Watching the little ones run through the tires was so cute!
This article is republished with permission from a mother and blogger: 733blog. Photo credits: Kim Conner.