Turning Ten: Banks' Birthday Olympics

Over the weekend, our Banks turned the big 1-0...double digits! That felt like a big deal to me. We are now over halfway through with our time of having him at home. And, as we told him, he will now be double digits for most of his remaining days on this earth (although he assured me he would be living to triple digits). :) 

My hub and I had already decided that when each of our kiddos turns 10, in lieu of the big, planned out parties we usually throw, they could choose anywhere in the US (well, except for Bella, who we will likely take to China <3) to take a parent-child trip to celebrate double digits. Thus, Banks and my hub will be heading out in a few weeks on a special father-son trip, but more on that in an upcoming post. Nonetheless, I thought it'd still be nice to at least do a little something with Banks and his buddies for his birthday, seeing how much he loves spending time with his friends. 

Enter: Banks' Birthday Olympics. 

Here's the thing: 9- and 10-year-old boys have a LOT of energy. And I wanted to do something a little different that would be inexpensive as well as quick and easy to pull together (i.e, less than a week). For the first time ever, I did not send a formal invitation, merely, a text invite. And I stole an idea from a girlfriend to offer up boxes of candy for favors, instead of making homemade cookie favors like I have the past few years. Are you seeing a theme here?: EASY PEASY. I hit up Walmart last week to snag a few supplies that would be needed to make the Birthday Olympics a success, and we were ready to rock! 

So, for 90-minutes on Banks' birthday, we hosted 10 of his friends in our backyard and watched them compete (in randomly drawn teams) over six events, ultimately crowning the Olympic Gold and Silver Medalists (congrats, Ben and Max and Banks, Banks, and Aiden!), who took home prizes for their victories. 

Here, a look at Banks' Birthday Olympics to celebrate turning 10: 

The scoreboard, Gold and Silver medalist prizes, and party favors: 

The six rounds of the birthday Olympics: 

Round 1. Golf Ball Toss. 

I found this thing in the clearance section of Walmart that worked perfectly for this round (which was originally going to entail lobbing balls into buckets, until I spotted this clearance treasure, that is!). It is meant to be a floating pool toy used to play something like Beer Pong, but I decided it could serve the same purpose on dry land with golf balls. Ha! Team to accumulate the most points wins. 

Round 2. Sheet Races.

Teams battled to race across the yard with one partner pulling the other on a sheet. First team to cross the finish line wins.

Round 3. Water Wars.

Each team had a bucket (i.e., plastic tupperware container) and each player had a sponge. For three minutes, they all raced across the yard to douse their sponges in a big bucket of water and then transfer it back to their container. The team with the most water in their container at the end of three minutes wins. 

Round 4. Pie Face

Think: Dizzy bat meets the Pie Face game. The boys had to spin five rotations with their head on a bat before running across the yard to a cone and back, ending their run by pie-ing themselves in the face. First team to have both players complete the task wins.

Round 5. Water Balloon Toss. 

The boys stood across from their partner and had to toss a water balloon to one another, taking a step back after each successful toss. Last team remaining with an un-popped balloon wins. 

Round 6. A good ol' fashioned foot race. 

On your mark, get set, go! This round was originally going to involve a race to style their hair with whipped cream, but after the Pie Race Round used up all the whip cream I had purchased, I make a quick decision to sub in a good ol' fashioned foot race. Fastest team wins. 

Once we completed the Olympics and the medalists were crowned, we had just enough time to sing "Happy Birthday!", eat some ice cream cake, and open gifts before the guests' parents arrived to take them home. The boys told me they had a blast, including the birthday boy, so I definitely count that as a Gold Medal in my book! :) It was definitely a fun, easy-to-pull-together party with sweet friends celebrating the big 1-0. <3 Happy Two-Whole-Hands, Bankster!