Happy Birthday Daniel

Daniel turned 5 on May 20 and today was his Star Wars birthday party with some of his friends. About 15 Padawan Learners arrived to the young Jedi training center. They began with light saber dueling (made from pool noodles--no bionic hands were necessary). . . .

They then used the force to traverse an obstacle course which required them to climb, slide, hop from platform to platform, cross a "lava" pit, cross a "lake" without getting wet, and demonstrate balance.

Once they'd proven themselves worthy of becoming Jedi their first mission was to free Han Solo from the carbonite (or was that ice?) freezing. It was a hot sunny day, perfect for racing back and forth from the water to the frozen Han until he finally came free.

After freeing their friend, they stumbled upon (literally) the Dark Side's secret weapon, the Death Star (drawn in chalk by Nathan). Not to worry, they bombed (waterballooned) it until there was no hint of what had once been such a vile fortress. That was followed by target practice as the young Jedi ran around with water guns, shooting the droid and bad guy pictures that were strategically placed around the yard.

The young Jedi's then watched a Star Wars Clone Wars movie and ate galactic pizza and Yoda soda. And I forgot the fruit salad in the fridge (so it wasn't very nutritious - but I don't think they missed it - more for us tonight for dinner).

Finally, the young Jedi confronted the evil Lord Vader (Daniel wacked him in half with four swings - honestly, I expected everyone to get a turn - we got it on video and you can see the kids running for the candy - Liam was ready to pounce before everyone else). The young Jedi ate their candy and took turns swinging thier light sabers at Lord Vader's helmet. The party ended with cake. Daniel had specifically requested Anakin with R2D2 in his Star Wars space ship. (I had to get Nathan's expertise to know exactly what that looked like, but in the end I think it turned out pretty well.)

All in all, it was a lot of fun. The games didn't really go as planned, but I learned that five year olds have a different concept of what makes a game fun. They don't need rules to follow, they just want to throw things, shoot water guns, run around, swing their foam light sabers, and eat pizza . . . . oh . . . and candy.

Daniel had a lot of fun picking out a toy space ship for each of his friends. If anyone didn't get one or accidentally left it here, let us know. Daniel was very concerned that all of his friends get a space ship to take home.

Thanks to everyone who came and the moms who were able to stick around and help. Thanks to Aunt Melanie for coming way out of her way to witness the mayhem and take tons of wonderful pictures.