Liesl's birthday party

On Friday after school, Liesl's two best friends came over for a birthday party at our house. We had party games and snacks, pizza and cupcakes, a scavenger hunt and a karaoke dance party, and so much fun. They kicked things off with balloon volleyball in the living room, a family birthday tradition for both kids.

Next we played a game of "get the soccer ball in the goal" (don't let the goalie block it!). Steve drew an awesome net, we blindfolded each girl in turn and spun them around, and they had to place their ball into the goal. And then I came in at the end as the goalie, trying to block their shots. It was goofy, but this too is a tradition for Liesl -- something different every year along the lines of pin-the-tail on the donkey.

 

Next up: blindfolded candy tasting! I cut up a bunch of candies and chocolates into bite-size pieces and gave them each a tiny taste; they had to (while blindfolded) write down what they thought it was. Elia was the clear winner here, scoring 9/10 correct.

Next up: Liesl's annual favorite, the scavenger hunt!!!!  Steve, as usual, outdid himself in the inventiveness of his clues.

 

For the final clue, they had to run out of the house and uphill a few blocks, where there was a balloon tied to a tree and some song lyrics, bringing them back to our house and a karaoke dance party. (The karaoke machine and microphone were Steve's idea, and Liesl has been thrilled with them.)

That was awesome and amazing, and it was so fun to see them getting into each song and dancing together. We followed it up with pizza and fruit, and then cupcake decorating and eating.

It was getting late at this point, and there'd been a lot of excitement and sugar. We ended the evening with pottery painting -- I'd picked up a kit with sugar skulls from a local paint-your-own-pottery studio; we'll paint them at home and then the studio will fire them.

And that was the end -- girls got picked up by dads, and everyone went to bed, ready for soccer games in the morning. It was a really good, memorable birthday party, with so much fun and laughing. Happy 11th to Liesl!