Birthday Boys

We now have two ten year old boys living in our house.  My how time flies sometimes.

Zach is TEN

Zach likes green.

Zach is terrific at learning.

Zach is great building things. 
 Zach is creative, careful and caring.
Zach is always talking about Mr Pig (the angry bird one).

Zach thinks about time machines, and wants to invent one someday.

Zach really loves Skylanders, and finally bought himself "Stink Bomb."

 Zach is socially timid, but is a loyal friend.
Zach is Unforgettable! 

 Quin is TEN

Quin loves purple.

Quin is terrific at teasing.

Quin is adventurous and active.

Quin loves soccer, and thinks that Neymar Jr. is the best. 

Quin loves to be with his friends, and is quite a social guy.

Quin loves to read, and will devour a fat novel in days if he has the time.

Quin is in love with all things sweet (but hasn't yet learned moderation). 

Quin wants to be independent, but still needs lots of guidance and coaching.
Quin is Charming!

We love you Zach & Quin!

 

Aside from a small family party on their birthday, this year the boys got to have a friend party.
After a little coaxing, Zach and Quin allowed mom to choose the theme of their party.
Mom's great idea was to have a Secret Agent Party, and it turned out to be lots of fun.

THE INVITE:  

Each of the boys got to invite a few friends.  Along with their invite they received a mini top secret envelope with a coded message that asked them to come in disguise.  For the party, we hung up some black balloons and hung up some fun signs that I found here.  (I also got the Secret Agent badges from that site.)

THE DISGUISES:  It was so fun to see all of the disguises that came to our "Mission Headquarter".  (Authorized Agents only.)

CHECK-IN:  The agents came to the "Security Checkpoint" and received their note book and pen, and also received a code name.  For their Code Names, each agent drew one paper from envelope #1 (adjectives) and one paper from envelope #2 (nouns).  The agents thought the results were a riot.  Some of my favorites were Chirping Skunk, Flying Pickle, Zooming Warthog, Sly Dragon and Raging Snake.

 THE GAMES:  We played a few games to hone our agent skills.  We practiced our observation skills by playing "What's Missing".  We gathered a bunch of different household objects and laid them out on a tray.  The agents had 30 seconds to look at everything, then we took the tray away and had them write down everything they could remember.  For the second round, we let the agents again look at the tray for a short time.  Then we took it away and removed four items from the tray.  The agents had to guess what was missing.  (sorry, didn't get any pics of that game...)
For the next game, we practiced our agility skills with the "Laser beam challenge."  They formed a line and took turns trying to get through the hallway without touching any laser beams (red yarn.).    

 THE MYSTERY:   Now for present time!   I told all of the agents to go get their presents and sit down in the living room.  After a minute or two of confusion, they realized that the presents were MISSING, and all they had was a note in their place from Dr Chaos! 

The agents had to follow picture clues thru the neighborhood.  There were a few places where there was not a clue waiting for them, and they had to impersonate the neighborhood cleaning crew by doing service for that neighbor before they could get the next clue.  (Some of them were really good sports about the service part, but there were a few who were little lazy turkeys!)

When they got to the last house, there was no picture clue, but a note that informed them that they already had possession of the last clue! (In their evidence envelope.)  They figured out that there were letters on the back of each picture clue and they had to decode it to learn where the presents could be found.

Once they figured out the clue, they ran to Dad's Truck, and had to destroy the candy filled bomb that was found with the presents!.  Now all that was left to do was open the presents and practice their birthday cake consumption skills!

 THE CAKE:  Zach really wanted some part of this party to be about "Mr. Pig", so Pig took the stage along side our themed birthday cake. (No disguise is complete without a mustache!)

I think everyone had a good time. (At least I did!)  We sent all of our Agents home with a dollar store fingerprinting kit, some popping (exploding) candy, and a thank you note.

 Happy Birthday Zach and Quin!