Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Rhys is 6!

Back in February, Rhys was invited to his very first Birthday Party. He loved going and he had so much fun. The next week when I picked him up from School he told me he had told a few girls in his class about HIS Birthday Party coming up and that they said they were going to come. This was news to me... since I didn't know he was having a party. =) But, he did end up giving me plenty of time to prepare and Steven and I were very happy to give him his party.
Since his Birthday was on a Saturday this year we decided to just have his party on his actual Birthday. He originally wanted to have a Spiderman themed party, but later he realized he could have a Spiderman party back in the States and he should have a party with a Character that we can only find here in Scotland. So, it was a Moshi Monster themed party. They're a Computer/Card Game that kids can play that are very similar to Pokemon, and Rhys just loves them.
They say that not everyone comes to things you invite them to, so I told Rhys he could invite 10 kids hoping that not all of them would show up. (Traditionally you usually invite the number of kids that your child is turning, so he should have had 6 kids at his party.) Well, luck was on our side because 6 kids actually came, so it ended up being perfect. One of the little girls had told us she was coming, but the morning of the party she was sick and so she couldn't. But she was so excited about her present that her Mom dropped it off anyway. It was very sweet of her.
Rhys ended up having 3 girls and 3 boys come so it worked out quite nicely. The party was from 2-4 so that we wouldn't need to provide Dinner for all the kids. Since Rhys had time to wait until his friends got here, he spent the morning playing one of the Video Games that Steven's parents gave him for his Birthday while they were here. He's getting quite good at them... he gets that from his Dad.
When the kids got here we had 2 of the parents stay and help. One of the little girls has a hard time in Social Situations and can get upset easily, so her Mom wanted to stay and make sure she was okay. And one of the boys was really shy and didn't want his Mom to leave. It ended up being nice having a few more adults there to keep the kids in line. We started with decorating all the kids faces with Face Paint. I was worried about putting the make-up on the kids without their parents consent, so we let them all know we were doing it on the invitation so they all came prepared and excited for it. Since Steven is our Theatre guy and has taken a make-up class, he was in charge of doing all the make-up. He did a great job! Rhys wanted to be a Tiger and when Gavin saw him he yelled "Rhys is a Tiger." It was really cute.
We also had 3 games planned. Pin the tail on the Moshi (I drew one of Rhys' favorite Characters for it.) Musical Numbers, (Which is kind of like Musical Chairs) and we had a Bean Bag Toss. Since the kids are only 6 we didn't want anyone sad that they didn't "win" so we just gave prizes to all the kids for trying. They were just silly little prizes, stickers or bubbles or pencils, but the kids loved them. 
When we were doing playing the games we had cake. I ended up just buying the cake at the store since they have them for so cheap and they are so cute. I bought it with just the stars on it, and then our friend Ben bought Rhys the Moshi's for his Birthday so we just put them on the cake. It turned out really cute. The only sad part was when all the Party guests kept saying they wanted a piece with a figure on it. I had to tell them that they were just for Rhys. Luckily they handled that pretty well.
After cake we opened presents. Two of the kids gave Rhys Cards with some money in it, so I was surprised at how much STUFF he actually got. I don't know if its a Scotland thing, or if people are just getting more generous with their presents back in the States too, but I can't believe what people gave him. It was very sweet and Rhys loved it. We had about 25 minutes left before the parents came back, and so we ended up having a Dance party. I think the kids really enjoyed themselves, but I KNOW Rhys did. He loved having all of his friends over and getting to show them where he lives. Hopefully we'll get to have more play dates with his friends now that I've met all of their parents.
One of the things that I noticed while all his friends were here is that he is started to rub off on his friends. Everyone kept expecting Rhys to get a Scottish accent while we're here.. and while he does say SOME words with an accent, he's not really getting one. But some of his friends were definitely saying things with an American twange. It was really funny. I'm sure its just because Rhys is around, and they'll probably stop doing it when he leaves, but it was fun to see how he is affecting them as well. =)
We waited for Rhys to open his presents from us until after his friends left. He also had a present from my parents and a bunch of Cards from people. For Dinner he requested Hamburgers and he spent the rest of the day playing Paper Mario, which is the Video Game that my parents got him. Over all I think it was a very good day. Rhys had so much fun and even Gavin enjoyed himself. (For the most part.) After this experience though, we think we might implement the same rule that the Grawrock's had and say he gets a party every other year. It's just SO tiring. I'm just glad that its over and Rhys is now my big 6 year old. I hope he'll remember this when he's older though... the Birthday Party he got to have in Scotland. =)
Rhys' Moshi Cake.
 Rhys anxiously waiting for his friends to arrive.
 This is the Moshi that I drew for the Pin the Tail game.
 His banner... I can't believe he's 6!
 Some fun little twirly things we had on the ceiling to make it festive.
 Rhys and me right before the party started.
 About to blow out the candles.
 Right after Rhys blew them out. He ALMOST got them in one blow.
 Eating cake with his friends.
 Opening presents.

 A Group shot of Rhys and his friends. Abbie is right now to him and then from left to right its Freya, Madelaine, Thomas, Michael, and Ethan.
 Rhys wanted to open his Remote Controlled Tarantula as soon as his friends left.
 The Tails. The kids gots them all over the place.
 All of his presents. These were JUST from his friends.
 Showing us the game my parents got him.
 He got a container of Gold Moshi's.
 A guide book to all the Moshi's you can collect.
 Gavin playing with Rhys' new Iron Man. He loves that thing.
 Rhys showing me his Captain America and Thor.
 Rhys was nice and let Gavin play with them too.
 Right before bed I tried to get a shot of them together. This is as good as it got.

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