Saturday was my niece Kayla's 6th birthday party. Dad, Ellen, and I arrived early to help set up and then we all went down the street to the park where the party was to be held. My brother and sister in law, Steve and Gina, had hired Renaissance Adventures to run the party for the kids. They were to go on a "hero's quest", which meant that they would try to collect packets of "gold" from the cave of the dragons (me, my brother, his brother in law, and his best friend) while the dragons tried to protect the treasure. The kids all chose to be elves (who can turn invisible), fairies (who can heal teammates), or archers (who got to throw beanbags at the dragons) and they had to work together to defeat the dragons. All of us were armed with foam swords and instructions to only lightly tap each other, and if anyone got tagged, then that limb was out of commission until healed by a fairy, except for the dragons, who could heal themselves. Suffice it to say, there were a lot of instructions for 6-year-olds, and even adults, to remember! But we had a blast! The kids were amazing and really did a fantastic job helping each other and working as a team. There was a LOT of giggling and laughing throughout the first 2 rounds of play. I was cracking up because when the kids were told "time in" to start the game, they all put their swords in the air, screamed and hollered at us, and ran straight at us, like they were reenacting a battle scene from Braveheart - hilarious! When we got to the 3rd round, I was ready with my camera to catch the battle charge, but they had decided to come out and try to make peace with the dragons, which was completely surprising to me. They said they would share their gold with us and give use food, to which we replied "which one of you do we get to eat?" while surrounding them. We adults definitely provoked a 3rd round of fighting, but the kids stuck with the "make peace" initiative and came out again to call a truce and this time we accepted. What a riot! That's the most fun I've had at a birthday party in a long time. And I got to see all of my Colorado peeps - Steve, Gina, Jayden, and Kayla, and all of Gina's family. Once the party was over, we all went back to the house for a late lunch, and dad arrived from picking Margo up at the airport so we could all watch Kayla open her remaining gifts.
My sister in law Gina and nephew Jayden
My dad tries on Kayla's new unicorn helmet
Niece Kayla and nephew Jayden at the party
All of the kids get briefed on the rules
My fellow dragons, Steven, Paul, and my brother Steve
Making a plan to attack the dragons
Blowing out the candles
Ready to try out her new scooter
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