If you know Cole, you know he doesn't do things half-way. He loves and he loves hard. One of the things he's 100% in love with right now is the game Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare. He will play that game for hours on the Playstation and has become rather proficient, enough so that he can beat almost anyone he plays with.
So, it wasn't a big surprise to me when he wanted his Birthday party this year to be Plants vs. Zombies themed. I found some fun ideas online and was really excited about it!
The morning of the party, Lily got to run next door to celebrate our neighbor's 1st Birthday! Lily and Sydney are buddies and like playing together. We love having built-in friends!
So, it wasn't a big surprise to me when he wanted his Birthday party this year to be Plants vs. Zombies themed. I found some fun ideas online and was really excited about it!
The morning of the party, Lily got to run next door to celebrate our neighbor's 1st Birthday! Lily and Sydney are buddies and like playing together. We love having built-in friends!
The kids and I ran over to church building to finish setting up for Cole's party.
We had homemade play dough for the kids so they could create their own zombie or plant hero. We added buttons and eyes and beads, and each kiddo could take home their own box with four colors of play dough and a roller. We also had placemats for the kids to use with the recipe for the dough printed on it.
I made the pinata to look like Cole's favorite character in the game: the Ice peashooter.
I had flower cupcakes and brain cupcakes to accompany his cake that had little figurines from the game.
Set-up for one of our games!
I divided the hall down the middle and had Zombies on one side and Plants on the other. for the Zombie side, I made this cityscape from fabric and had cute little signs at each table along with a balloon zombie.
On the Plants' side, each table had these huge flowers. Yes, I know it's a boy's party, but Cole really liked the flowers and one of his favorite characters is a Rose in the game.
I also made this backdrop from fabric.
I ran a table down across the front of the gym, with half being on the Plants side and half being on the Zombie side. Each side was decorated accordingly.
I also divided up the snacks--fruit and dip and fruit snacks on the Plants side with cheese and meat and chips on the Zombie side.
A HUGE shout-out to Sara Knight who came with me the night before to help set up! She is amazing!! George was once again working nights up in Culpeper. (The morning of the party, he drove back from working overnight in Culpeper and slept for a couple hours in his car before coming in for the party. He's a trooper!)
The Birthday boy ready for his party!
Almost ready to start the first game!
Our first game was "Walk like a Zombie."
Each kid had to walk half the gym and back again while keeping a balloon between their legs.
Each kid had to walk half the gym and back again while keeping a balloon between their legs.
A valiant effort by Lily, even though the balloon was almost as big as she is!
The next game was called "Hovergoat Relay". In the game there's a zombie goat that cruises around on a hoverboard. It's pretty hysterical. In this game, we divided the kids into teams and had them race on their "hoverboards" (scooters).
Our favorite game by far was the Peashooter game! With the help of Sara and Sam Knight, I made 30 marshmallow guns from PVC pipe. Each kid got to pick a gun and let loose a shower of marshmallow bullets as they pretended to be peashooters taking out zombies.
I had printed out pictures of zombies from the game and hung little bells on the bottom of each picture. The kids thought this was FANTASTIC.
Of course it devolved into shooting each other, but hey, we figured that would happen.
Lance was especially excited about his gun and kept making changes and "modding" it to make it more amazing.
Each of the kids got to take a gun home with them as a party favor! They were pretty excited.
And our final game was the piñata!
And our final game was the piñata!
(George was manning the rope and wasn't prepared for Cole's on-target hit right off the bat. Oops!)
Grant!
Mason knocked off the bottom!
I can't remember, but I think Jude may have made the final hit to break it open.
Cake time!
Cole really really wanted to eat the cupcake with the rose on it.
Cole and his best friend Evangeline Knight.
Lily wanted to try the brain cupcakes.
Our friends the Elmers came! It's always fun to see them!
Eric is an Anesthesia Fellow this year and finishing up this summer. He's hoping to stay on at UVa and the prospects are looking good! We're excited they may stick around for years to come.
Laura was a trooper and drove down with all three of her boys.
Laura was a trooper and drove down with all three of her boys.
During the party and between games, the kids had fun playing with the play dough. They did a great job being very creative! I was impressed by the models they made.
Cole working on his ice peashooter.
Mason's creation:
We had several adults stay and play which is always nice. George and his doctor buddy Gabe Palmer got to sit around and catch up, something that doesn't happen often because of crazy schedules.
Jude made this cute pea shooter. I thought he did a great job!
Sara Knight and Kathleen Jones
Katie Palmer with her two girls
Laura with Austin, Mason, and Grant
The Elmers!
This crazy baby hung out and rolled around, thrilled to be part of the action like always.
Even the adults got into the "peashooting".
This is what happens when you let an 8-month-old eat a whole cupcake:
Happiest Birthday, Coley Oley! You continue to be our sweet, snuggly little man always ready with a hug. Your love and enthusiasm for life is apparent in everything you do. We are so grateful to have you as part of our family. Thank you for being you!
