a ninja(go) party for the mighty

after weeks of contiplating between a wild krats party, a lego movie party, & a ninjago party mylo finally opted for the latter. well, we're calling it a ninjago party despite the lack of yellow lego figures spinning around. while scouring the internet for ideas & party supplies mylo chose ninja over ninjago every single time but still insists on keeping the ninjago label. whatevs.

sticking to true watkins fashion i let the birthday boy do most the party planning. and why not? it's his party. my only goal is to ensure his complete & utter happiness on his special day. that's it. i did have to nix a few of his more out-there ideas like flying on dragons, attacking ninjago city, & eating "a whole lot a lot of cupcakes." but all in all, i think mighty was pretty pleased. mylo's party hihglights were opening presents, using his spinjitzu moves on the ninja dummy, the ninja cupcakes & dojo, & the entire ninja training course. in fact, he ran through the course a good dozen times before his friends showed up laughing the entire time. it truly isn't easy to wipe the smile off that kid's face. 

 we planned to have a real ninja come teach the kids moves but he bailed last minute. instead we set up a ninja training cours. included were a balance beam, jumping through ropes (or "lasers", either way), a ninja crawl, shuriken target practice, breaking boards, mylo teaching his friends spinjitzu & sword practice on the ninja dummy. cooper & the older kids competed for the fastest times & the little kids were content just trying to complete the course. after eating the played pin the sword on the kai (the one & only piece of ninjago at the party).

for food we stuck with local classics, spam musubi & spam fried rice, fruit snacks, & ninja power up waters. i let the kids give chopsticks a shot before bringing out the spoons. mylo helped me make fortune cookies, rice krispy sushi, & cupcakes to satisfy his constant sweet tooth. sticking to the theme the keiki sat at short chabudai tables to eat. it was adorable.

before heading home mylo gave each friend a take out box full of ninja favors including paper dragons, tattoos, shurikens, ninja lollipops, & senbei cookies to go along with their swords & headbands. mylo was most excited to pass out the boxes & finally open one of his own.