Battle Force Five Birthday

Scott discovered the Hot Wheels Battle Force 5 TV series sometime last year and it has been pretty much his #1 favourite thing in the world ever since. It was the basis for his Halloween costume and most of his birthday wish list. When discussion turned to a theme for his party and cake, of course he chose BF5 -- a perfect fit for the 5-year mark.



According to our slowly-evolving house protocol, 5 years is the birthday where you first get to invite friends to come. However, the number of guests is limited 5, increasing in lockstep with your age to a probable cap of 10 or 12 (to be determined). Scott's list of close friends mostly included his cousins, but he did invite two boys from his class at church to round out his Battle Force team.



Originally, I was going to make a pinata to look like the blue "fuser" that they use in the show to blend two vehicles together, but I wasn't sure exactly how to make a dodecahedron (12-faced polyhedron) from papier mache such that it would still break at the hands of small, blindfolded children. When it came time to actually make the pinata, Scott showed little concern for its shape, and was more concerned that it have a BF5 logo on it. Well, round pinatas happen to be a specialty of mine, and I have access to a colour printer...



Last year's soccer pinata only lasted one round in the ring, but this year's model (which had two layers of spraypaint and one layer of automobile clearcoat) lasted three full rounds against our heroes before cousin Alli brought it down, just like 2011. Given her 2.5 year lead on the group, she can swing the pool cue with considerably more strength. Actually, she was pretty much the only one who could handle the ungainly pool cue very well at all -- when we moved we lost the much shorter stick that we used in previous years (it was a 18-inch section of wooden curtainrod).





The vanquished pinata yielded up its treasures of Hershey's Kisses and tshirts, each shirt representing a different character from Battle Force 5 (with the exception that the three girls all had pictures of the lone female member of the Battle Force team). Of course, Scott got the red shirt depicting Vert Wheeler, the leader.





Clad in their new shirts, the group set out for general mayhem in the back yard until it was dinnertime. Fortunately, this was one of the few days in the later part of April when it didn't rain.







Being the birthday boy, Scott had the privilege of choosing the dinner menu. He opted for macaroni and cheese, and I don't think any of his guests had aught but praise for his choice -- with the exception that one of his cousins seemed to shovel more on the floor than in her mouth. Watermelon and garlic bread rounded out the feast.





Between dinner and dessert, we played a quick game in the basement -- a dancing version of musical chairs, of sorts. There were a number of towels on the floor, and kids were to dance to the Battle Force 5 theme song until the music stopped, then find a towel to stand on. Each round a towel was taken away, but no players were eliminated. Instead, they had to cram more and more kids onto fewer and fewer spots. The dancing was excellent.







The penultimate event was the cake, and every member of the group vied for a piece with the coveted number five on it -- for reasons I simply cannot explain. I cut the slices as small as possible to give everyone a piece of the action, and afterwards realized that I had grossly overestimated their appetite/patience for eating ice cream cake when there was serious playing to be done. Witness reports indicate that Katie ate the most, since straps locked her firmly into her chair for the duration.







Presents! The final event. The funniest moment was probably when Destin was pulling the items out of his present to give to Scott and stopped short when he pulled out a package of small finger lights, saying, "Um, I think these are for me." It took some coaxing to convince him that the lights should actually go to Scott (it helped that Scott promised to give one of the lights to Destin).













Happy Birthday Scotty! We can't believe you are getting so big. We just love you to bits, boy!