G.I. Joe PartyTime!

Its birthday season around here.  I have three boys whose birthdays come in January, February, and then March. 

A very boyish Birthday cake

 I love to host birthday parties but would soon go crazy if I did three in a row every year.  Thus I began the every other year party rule.  My seven year old hit the magic mark this year and ask for a G.I. Joe party.  Being the girly, non violent gal that I am, I tried a bit to redirect him.  I was thinking more along the lines of rainbows and robots.  But, he had made up his mind and convinced me.  Not surprisingly that smarty pants was right on.  The party was a huge hit with all his little friends.  I had several parents tell me afterwards that their son came home more excited about the party than they ever have been before.

Unfortunately, this is not the year for G.I. Joe party paraphernalia   The only trademarked item I could find was the little birthday centerpiece you can see in the middle of the table.  It was being clearanced out at Oriental trading company, so at least I got it for dirt cheap.   

 So, this party turned into more of an army themed party.  Which turned out to be a great move.  There are tons of ideas on Pinterest for army themed parties and camouflage party goods are abundant. 

When the boys arrived, they each were given a Rambo style headband.  The camo head bands came from Oriental trading (along with most of the other party goods)

Then the party kids were directed to a table to make their own marshmallow shooters!

I found tons of tutorials to make these online.  Basically, they are made with 1/2 " pvc pipe and connectors.  We own a miter saw.  So, I was able to quickly slice and dice the pvc pipe into 4" and 7" sections.  We also needed T joints, L joints, and end caps.  I made a little diagram for the boys to follow.

Each piece was assigned a letter and could be found in the labeled bins.  However, most of the boys ended up freestyling their designs.  Amazingly, all of their concoctions worked just fine.  I wish I had bought a few more of the different connectors, though because the boys who came in late had limited options. 

 It was super duper fun to see what they came up with.

Here are a couple of dads who directed the marshmallow shooter mania. 

 I made sure there was a sharpie for the boys to label their own gun, along with some camouflage duck tape for decorating.

Throughout the party, the boys had a blast running around pelting each other with our marshmallow ammunition.

The chocolate bombs (whoppers) and rescue ropes (Twizzlers)  received rave reviews as well.  In fact, I was surprised at their cute reactions to the labels.  Apparently candy bars aren't just for the girls!

Following the marshmallow shooter construction, The boys went on a search and rescue mission to recover some lost soldiers.  We had pre-hidden some army dudes in the front yard that they had to go find. 

 It was even better than an Easter egg hunt because they blended in with the grass.  Our lawn mower will probably find a couple this spring.

Yep, those kids are running around in shorts and T-shirts in January.  Just one of the advantages of southern living.

Once those army dudes were recovered, each boy was awarded with official dog tags.  Actually, I just used a sharpie to write in their names.  But, they thought it was pretty cool anyway.  I even saw a kids wearing his dog tags to church the next day.

Then came the paratroopers.

We have a scary cool opening upstairs in our loft that makes the perfect parachute launching platform.

 These were closely following by flying airplanes.  Here they are in their packages.  The boys got to build their own.

I don't have any great, non-blurry pictures of the airplane flying.  But this is what our stairs looked like.  They sure got their work-out in with all their running up and down.

One of the little airplanes is resting on the table, if you look closely.

Those crazy boys needed a couple of water breaks.  Fortunately, we had lots of water bottles.

Then they munched on army guy cupcakes.

I tried to make camouflage frosting.  It sorta worked.

I made the boys eat on our driveway since our table was preoccupied with being cute and full of party goods.

 The cupcakes were well received.

 Birthday boy with his buddies.

I asked him to pose for Grandma and this is what I got.

Sorry Grandma.

After some present opening and a lot more marshmallow shooting, the boys left with a sack of treasures.

I gave them each a bag of extra ammunition (marshmallows), some army guys and airplanes.  I have since been blamed for marshmallow all over my friend's houses.  Sorry bout that.

Originally, I had planned an obstacle course too.  But three days of rain made for a very muddy backyard and it was easier to just skip it.

We had a blast all the same.

linking up to Tater Tots and Jello