................................The Thrill on Berryhill ..........................: Happy 6th Birthday, Jake!!!

On March 22, 2014, Joe would be in Switzerland. So, we decided to throw Jake's birthday party a couple of days before the real deal. This would be his first, big "friend" party. And one thing I've come to realize, is that Jake doesn't like surprises. He loves to take ownership and plan things down to the very last detail. And so, together, we planned his party. Because it would be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle theme, Jake felt it necessary to watch the original episodes multiple times a day to make sure he was an expert when it came to the reptiles :)

I had Joe contact a guy who does inflatables and jump houses down here and this was the one he picked. Surprisingly my phobia of sharks wasn't too much of an issue when I saw it for the first time. The boys LOVED it. Of course!

The party was only a week after Luke's accident. For some reason, this picture seems fitting.

The 18 invitations were out, the games were planned, the goody bags were ready, and the boys were thrilled that the jump house came the day before the party, so they could get some good use out of it. Unlike me, our dog Lucy, was terrified of the monstrosity in our backyard, so she stayed close to her crate the entire time it was up!

The TMNT favorite food is pizza. So as I was putting the goody bags together and found pizza flavored Doritos, I had to get them! It was perfect! Also included: Ninja swords and bows and arrows, homemade green ooze (https://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/glue-borax-gak), Ninja Juice, Rubik's puzzle to strengthen their ninja minds, and a little something sweet.

The man of the hour was shirtless and pumped. This is something he does the moment he walks in the front door almost daily. I'm not exactly sure why, but we go with it. He was ready for some ninja action.

When his guests arrive, like one of his best buds, Paden, they were given some green ooze to eat to turn them into turtles. Once they accomplished this task, they could go over and pick which Ninja Turtle they wanted to be. The colored "mask" was wrapped around their head (much more comfortable than over the eyes) and then they were sent off to practice their ninja moves in the shark.

Jake requested that Kate play the part of April and she was in charge of helping the guests mutate into turtles.

Then came the food. I absolutely love everything about this picture. Classic.

On the menu: PIZZA, Pizza Doritos, veggie sticks, and Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo and Leonardo heads, filled with fruit of the corresponding color. Plums, strawberries, oranges, and blueberries. I have to say, the heads got the kids to eat a bit more fruit :)

Then it was time for some games. Jake helped plan them all. We had musical chairs with the TMNT theme blaring over and over and over again...All of my kids know every single word to the song now and make references to it daily.

We also did a little pin the pizza in the turtle's mouth...

As well as, throw the pizza (frisbee) in the pizza boxes...

And then Jake's favorite. Destroy Shredder!!!! He wanted Joe to dress up like Shredder and have the kids "attack" him with water balloons. In the madness, Joe ran inside to try and find something to put on to make him look like Shredder. He found Jake's Darth Vader mask and figured that would be close enough. Everyone called to Shredder to come out and face his foes. He made quite the entrance that terrified one of the little toddlers that was present with his mom. But the kids LOVED it. Jake was a little upset that Joe did get permission from Jake to borrow the mask he had on, but he quickly recovered, when he was given water balloons and told it was his turn to attack.

It was a nutty, crazy, fun, loud, party. There wasn't a chance I was going to manage a cute group shot of everyone who came. This was the best I could manage :)