Looking Up: Sir Josh!

Josh's 8th birthday was a couple of weeks ago but as sometimes happens when you have a busy life we just had the party yesterday. Since his mother likes to decorate cakes the boy decided he wanted a castle cake he'd seen in a cake book. To his young mind there was no question as to whether I could actually pull it off or not!

His whole birthday party was planned around this cake.

We invited his friends with a pronouncement of "Hear Ye! Hear Ye!" written on scrolls we'd made. All the "squires" were invited to the "trials". If they successfully completed them they would be knighted by King Jon at the end of the party.

We had them decorate tunics with their crest (they colored clearance pillow cases with fabric markers and then put them on. We tied brown rope around their waists for the leather belt.)

Next they went outside and decorated their shields which were made of cardboard. When that was done they began the trials. The first thing they had to do was run the obstacle coarse. They started in the back yard where we paired them up. They had to run from the back yard, around one side of the house where there was a "log in the forest that they had to jump with their horses" (we put a board down that they had to jump over). From there they traversed the great desert (the front yard) and ran until they reached the "castle" which blocked their passage into the back yard again. They had to climb over or through the castle, run back to the starting point and use the "lance" they'd been carrying to slay their dragon. (The dragons were two saw horses with a green balloon stuck to the end. The lances were foam pipe insulation with a pin stuck in one end).

They had to rescue a maiden (while keeping a balloon aloft with their sword) and they had to find the King's treasure which someone had stolen and scattered throughout the land. And of course their was the opportunity to just sword fight (again made from foam pipe insulation).

I had so much fun watching them! Today we taught Sunday school and several of the boys were in our class. We've heard a few times that it was the best party ever! That makes a mom feel good!