Anyway, my step-daughter turned 9 yesterday. A couple weeks ago, I told the kids that on the 4th of July we were going to the movies to see the new movie, Brave, since I had the day off from work. Around the same time, I asked Jacey what kind of theme does she want for her party. Of course, she wanted a Brave-themed party.
I immediately scoured the internet and Pinterest to find ideas. Since the movie is so new, I couldn't find many. I did see, however, that one of the biggest recommended activity to do for a Brave party, is to have a mini Highland Games. The Highland Games is a Scottish tradition that tests contestants on a variety of skills such as the caber toss and axe throwing.
It was then that I settled on three activities for our "Highland Games": archery, javelin throw, and mini-caber toss.
Our archery contest consisted of homemade PVC pipe bows (I'll create another post to show how to make them, but there are plenty of tutorials on the internet), paper targets bought from Walmart, a pool noodle, thumb tacks, and a large board for mounting the targets. We originally tried using wooden dowels for the arrows but it was difficult for the kids to nock the arrow (even though we carved a notch into one end). Fortunately, we purchased some actual arrows from Walmart, so we ended up using those.
Our javelin throw consisted of pool noodles cut in half and stuff with rolled newspaper stuffed in one end for extra weight. We suspended a hula hoop from a fishing line that was strung from our deck out to a post in our yard. The kids had two throws to make the javelin in the hoop.
Lastly, our mini-caber toss. I purchased a large pool noodle and we stuff it with newspapers to give it more weight. I wish I had sand to fill the middle to add even more weight, but oh well. The point of this game is to toss the "log" as far as you can and have it flip 180 degrees. We used pool floaties to mark the furthest toss.
After the games, we enjoyed pulled pork and chicken sandwiches with chips and drinks (it was lunch time, so heavy foods weren't absolutely necessary). Then came time for presents!
And of course, there was the cake. I used figurines purchased at Toys R Us, bonus gift for Jacey. It was a two tier yellow cake (I cheated this time and used box cake mix substituting water with buttermilk and sour cream), covered in fondant dyed green. I found this neat idea of piping frosting on wax paper with an image below it, freezing the frosting, and affixing it to the cake. Unfortunately, I used the wrong kind of frosting. Fortunately, the words came out pretty good anyway.
I used a leaf press for the leaves and did the stone work by hand.
Because of work, I had to be at our local baseball stadium for a Used Car Giveaway evening. Something I help to organize. My group serves dinner in the banquet hall for our clients, and I brought the family along. I am fortunate to have an awesome boss, who allowed me to arrange to have the team mascot, Sox the Fox, come to the banquet hall and give her balloons and flowers (which I purchased before the game) and have the whole banquet hall sing Happy Birthday to Jacey. It was perfect!
Overall, it was the "best birthday ever" according to Jacey! I am glad we were able to make the day super special for a very special young lady. :D
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