Celebrating Mr.J 's 8th Birthday With Video Games and a Water Fight

Mr. J turned 8 today.  On his first birthday I snuck into his room and wished him a happy birthday at 3:16 am (the time he was born) That started a tradition and every year on the kids birthdays I quietly wish them a happy birthday at the time of their birth, give them a kiss and then head back to sleep. That was the start of his birthday this year.

When planning his party, he wanted a video game party. Then he wanted a water fight party. Then he wanted a video game party and I finally told him we could do BOTH!  We kept our fingers crossed that we would have a hot day for the party (so much better to have a water fight on a hot day) We contacted a mobile video game service and booked them for 90 minutes (8 year old boys seem to LOVE video games).

The expert game coach was fantastic, and all the kids had a really great time.  The 90 minutes went by pretty quick, and the only reason there wasn't complaining when we were finished was that they knew they got to have a water fight!

the boys playing video games (with their dad)

We came in the house for cake and presents, and then we headed outside for the water guns. HASBRO was kind enough to send us water guns for ALL the kids at the party (which means they even got to take them home with them).

Mr. J chose an American themed cake since his birthday is July 4th!

We received 7 NERF Super Soaker Floodfire Blasters (these are pretty cool because you can actually hook them up to the garden hose for a never ending supply of water) and 1 NERF Super Soaker Flashflood Blaster (this has 2 separate nozzles - one for a flash strike and one for a flood strike) I used a permanent marker and wrote their names on their water guns.  I gave Mr. J the choice of gun, and he wanted to the Flashflood Blaster, so the rest of the guests got the Floodfire Blasters.

Hubby set up the hose to use for a refill station (which was also a safety zone) and we let them all have a  blast running through our yard and the field behind our house.  I made a sign so they would know where the safety zone was (although they all tried to be sneaky and hide in the safety zone and then shoot people from there)

the sign I made for the refill station

I thought that 30 minutes might be too long for a water fight, but I was WRONG. We ended up calling it off after 35 minutes (parents were starting to come, and Mr. J and hubby had to go to the football game) but all the kids were still having a blast and didn't want to end.  We had to tell them they could come back on a non-party day for a water fight!

Tales of Mommyhood received Super Soakers at no charge in exchange for this post. All opinions are honest and belong to ToM; your opinion/experience may vary.