Today I have to share a most excellent birthday party I had nothing to do with. I just begged my friend to let me take pictures and blog about all her creativity.
Meet Cooper. He's the birthday boy and very lucky son of a dear friend of mine.
A friend that predates training bras and mall bangs. I'm the 1984 birthday girl in the center and Cooper's mom, let's call her Ophelia, is the one on my left in the awesome My Little Twin Stars tee. If her shirt choice isn't proof that Ophelia's super cool maybe this will convince you.
This is above the archway in her kitchen. How can you not love a woman that has ruby slippers hanging on her wall? So it was no doubt she was going to create a very kidilicious, creative, crafty Lego Police party. And she did.
But lest you think Ophelia is Cooper's lone super parent he also has a dad unlike most others. DaleATL creates home videos of their family that are beyond incredible. And he did one for this party that I'll link to at the end. Whoa! Don't skip ahead. You must be patient, grasshopper. All things in good time. While he was busy recording, I was running around photographing and Ophelia was busy being the party drill sargeant.
Before we even made it inside my boys were already excited by the sight of real police tape around the perimeter of the house.
More evidence of the crime as we approached the front door.
Once inside Ophelia hung badges around all the party guests necks.
And they all wore police hats she'd made from construction paper and recycled cereal boxes.
You cannot have a police party without donuts!
In addition to donuts, chips and fruit the food table was also decorated with badges, more police tape and some very original Lego scenes Cooper created for the day.
And then there was the police car cake and cupcakes.
Ophelia created the cake from the Wilton 3D car pan and copious amounts of delicious frosting.
She dyed the cupcake batter blue for extra pizazz.
The first game of the day was pin the badge on the police officer. She said Cooper came up with the idea himself. Ophelia created the officer to hang on the wall with a foam badge the kids tried to place. Young and old kids couldn't resist this twist on an old party favorite.
Then the games got more interesting. Handcuffed kids and donuts on a string?
The object? Who could eat the most donut without it falling.
A yummy game and absolutely hilarious to watch the kids attempt.
The final game was a relay race outside. The kids had to drive a tricycle through cones...
Fire a Nerf gun at the target...
Commandeer a vehicle...
Recover buried evidence...
Individual containers of blue jello each hid five pieces of important evidence the kids had to dig out. Fabulous, filthy fun.
And a bit too irresistible for Cooper's little sister. She simply had to taste the remnants of her brother's jello after he ran off to the...
Evidence room and hopes of the fastest time on the stop watch.
The fun didn't end there. Ophelia also made Cooper a police car piñata. This was her first time making a piñata. She constructed it from shirt boxes and paper maché then covered it in Dollar Tree crepe paper. Her attention to the small details were incredible.
It withstood a beating from all the party guests with and without blindfolds.
It finally surrendered its candy center with the help of Cooper's Papa and a mighty blow from one of the bigger kids. Or perhaps a better way for me to describe this shot is my heart in my throat as my son took a swing at Ophelia's dad's hands. I did not want this to end badly!
Fortunately my son did not harm my childhood friend's dad and the candy rained down on all their heads.
When the games were done, the blue cupcakes consumed and the gifts opened the kids left with their badges, goody bags and Police Academy diploma.
The personalized Lego Police diplomas delighted my boys.
As did the bounty of police themed goodies in their bags.
The parking violation pad was my personal favorite from the loot. I'd like to keep these in my purse to distribute in parking lots.
Happy Birthday, Officer Cooper!
And now that you've made it to the end you must check out the birthday video DaleATL created. I promise this is not your usual home video and you will not regret the next five minutes.
And afterward poke around his YouTube channel to feel completely inadequate about your recording of last Christmas morning.
