My Niece's 12th Birthday Party!

Today, is my niece's 12th Birthday!  Riley Parker-Malyon has a great party with all her classmates attending and us as well.  I went all out and bought her an artists sketch case for all her art gear this week and then wrapped it in some lovely purple paper - as I know it's one of her many favourite colours - and took it along with me to the party.

When Mum and I arrived, it seemed the neighbourhood was on its biggest chuck-out we've seen!  And as we came around the block, I spotted a nice coffee table that was just sitting out on the footpath looking lovely and commented that I should to and have a look at it.  Well, about 20 minutes after I arrived, I did and I ended up nabbing it and taking it back to Gabe's place to keep until we left.

Well!  Riley was there ready to greet guests and she saw me with a big, gaily-wrapped gift and I said she could open it straight away.  She ripped it open and loved it!  She adored it that I also included a hand-made book baggie as well - to carry her four books that she's currently reading and she can't wait to store her art stuff in the box!  She thought it was very cool.  When we had some time in her room, I told her that my art box I bought cost me around $85 but her was an absolute bargain and cost a lot less and was just as well-made; and these boxes should last her a good long time (unless it gets crushed or something else bad happens to it).  She grinned as she ran her hands over it saying she loved it - and its smell!  She loves the smell of new things... she just does.  And I don't blame her, so do I.  We went out into the living room where soon after, the first of her guests arrived.

It was a great afternoon of food, games, laughter and fun.  Gabe kept the kids going first with Tug-of-War and they all loved it, swapping from end to end, changing over kids from each end until they had the right mix, then they played the game; and it ended in hilarity with them all on the ground!  

Next was the Chocolate Game.  Now, I hadn't played this one since I was very young - and neither had some of the kids - but they had fun pulling on a tutu and a fuzzy hat with horns whenever they rolled a 6 on the dice and then trying to eat the block of chocolate small block by small block with a knife and fork... I got plenty of photos of the fights over that plate!

And then there was sword-fights with bamboo stalks - one of Riley's ideas... which was funny to see the kids run around fighting each other with them.  Some of the boys put on Star Wars type voices and the girls danced around smacking the sticks around until they broke.  The next game was a Treasure Hunt.  And seeing Riley's birthday is so close to Halloween, Katrina thought it would be good to include this holiday in her birthday.  We split into pairs and had to run around and find 6 items hidden around the garden.  Unfortunately, one of the kids went home, so I took part in being one of the pairs and we went around looking for the 6 things we needed.  Oh!  Talk about fun!  My partner slipped over on the front lawn and fell on her butt laughing her head off before we even found a treasure; and then once we found 5 of them, we were stuck for the last one until I found the whistle on the trailer around the side.  I let her keep all the things we found as she was one of the guests; and she was there to have fun.  

Then, Riley opened her pressies from her friends and Mum and Dad.  She received some lovely things including gift vouchers and money and then she received a new camera and a laptop from her Mum!  How cool is that!  She was so amazed!  Not long after that, it was time for cake - and not just any cake - it was time for Bee-sting.  Now, it's been tough to find a good, well-made Bee-sting which doesn't taste like and look like cardboard.  So, my Mum bought 3 and added some freshly whipped cream to it and - voila! - we tasted the old-fashioned taste of an original Bee-sting!  Why bakeries won't do them up like this anymore is beyond me!  

Well, we jumped rope with the tug-of-war rope and had fun, then we played this Tibetan game that Gabe found on the net.  It's where you need two chairs, two people, two cones (big enough to fit over the face, but you can still see out the end) and two bricks.  Then, when you the people wearing the cones, you have to get them to moved their own bricks - with their feet - to the chair across from them.  Now, it's harder than it looks and it is definitely one of the funniest things I've ever seen!  The kids loved it and they had play-offs and finals of it too.  Talk about funny.

We jumped-rope again and played H.E.L.P where you had to do a certain thing when the rope stopped on a certain letter (H - high rope. E - eyes closed. L - Lullaby. P - Pepper).  Well, it was great!  Gabe and I turned the rope until our arms hurt and Dad filmed it all.  The kids were getting worn out and they were having fun too.

Pretty soon, it was heading toward 5pm or so, and some of the parents dropped around to pick up their kids.  One of the chickens was picked up and cuddled - and it didn't seem to care as it settled under the crook of one of the girls' arms and they all patted the brown chicken (including me as I've been trying to pat this one for a while and it's been running away from me).  A few of them were scared of this brown beauty until they found out how nice and soft she was and she didn't bite either.  Then, Riley was nursing her for a bit too.

Soon after, it began to rain a little; and the kids came inside while I pulled in the chairs from the yard.  Mum and Dad said it was time for us to leave.  Dad had packed the coffee table into the back of his car and he offered to drive me home.  After we left, we chatted about all kinds of things; mainly television shows and how bad they were getting.  Then, my voice began to lag really badly on me (and it still is).  I don't think I'll have a voice tomorrow... so it'll be off to the doctors for me on Monday!  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.