Lego Loving

We returned from our homeschool conference on Friday afternoon.  Ryan had also been out of the country and he returned just before bedtime.  I had promised my birthday boy some sort of party.  One with guests besides his siblings.  He hadn't had one of those since his 9th birthday.  The complication was that the friends we'd traveled with were his first choice of guests and they were leaving on Sunday AM to return to their home city.  That gave me a 24 hour window to pull together a party plan.

Never in my pre-Africa days would this have happened.  I would have ordered my themed items from Birthday Party Express at least a month in advance.  But you know what?  I live in Africa now, and well, it happened.  But, guess what?   We pulled off a party...without Michael's, Party City, or Dollar Tree.    Though, I did use Pinterest.  Thank you Jesus for Pinterest ( I mean that with all sincerity.)

The kids and I had lost a night of sleep going to the conference and most of a night of sleep coming back.  So, on Friday while we dumped our luggage in the middle of the floor, I had Naomi fix us some Ramen noodles (known as Indomie where we live).  Over that gourmet meal, I broached the birthday party subject with Isaac.  I was secretly chanting something like, "Please say you just want friends and ice cream sundaes, please say you don't care."  But, I created some crazy birthday party expectations in my other life and they came back to bite my butt once again.

He wanted Legos.  And no he didn't want a giant cookie.  He wanted a real decorated cake, like I used to make.  That's what he said.  "Mom, remember how you used to make us those cool, fancy cakes?"  Seriously?  Don't even get me started on why elaborate buttercream and the equator don't go together.

Anyway, after realizing he was serious, I decided the best next step was to sleep.  So, I left the suitcases in the floor,  made sure my kids were all accounted for, and I found a bed.   That was the best thing I could have done.  Then, after adding a couple of hours to my sleep total, I was ready to go Lego crazy.   I can tell you that one of the great things about having older kids is that they can make significant contributions to things like 24 hour birthday party preparations.  We worked together and when we hit the sack on Saturday night, we were exhausted, but Isaac had been celebrated and he was satisfied.

Some of the fun included...

 Friends!

 A Lego Memory game.  How many could you remember?

 Lego Bingo and a Lego Car Race.  The winning car is pictured above and below.

 Isaac and Lily custom-made our fork holder.

 The kids enjoyed turning two of the dads into Ninjagos

 We gave all of the food a Lego movie themed name.  For example, we had Emmet's Empanadas and Unikitties Colorful Kabobs.  We also made homemade potato chips, corndogs, punch, and lego pizzas.  You don't even wanna know how much we had to pay for those grapes.  But, oh, they were yummy!

 Here's the birthday boy with his Lego man cake.

Ryan and Abby threw in a little Lego style decor with this fun banner.  I am so thankful for a husband who is willing to help out with these kind of details!