The Jedi Training Grounds at Endor - aka 6 yr. old's birthday party

The idea was to have a paduan [Jedi in training] party at the new Jedi Training Grounds on the planet of Endor [where the Ewoks are from]. Why Endor? Let's just say that our back yard resembles Endor far more than it does Tatooine or Coruscant. As guests arrived the kids could practice their Jedi targeting skills by picking up the local nuts [hickory] and trying to throw them through targets [i.e. speeder, AT-AT and Death Star] Of course we had snacks and drinks: Twilek Twizzlers, Naboo Nachos, Gummy Ewoks [look surprisingly like gummy bears], paduan pop-corn and Jedi Juice and… water. We also had activities. We came up with Carbonite Freeze Tag and Musical Planets, and the whole evening would be topped off with the Jedi Smack-Down after cake. Carbonite Freeze Tag is like regular freeze tag, only when whoever is "it" tags someone, that person has to freeze like Han Solo did when he was encased in carbonite in the movie, Empire Strikes Back. This game went extremely well. The kids joyfully played it for a long time. After a brief break we played Musical Planets. I had printed out a number of planets and a small Death Star. Musical Planets is played like musical chairs , only the person who is "out" at the end of the round gets to hold the Death Star and choose which planet gets obliterated before the game continues. Unfortunately the Death Star got lost before the game so we had to improvise the Death Star part. Skip battled it out fiercely with Baron at the end, but Baron in his Darth Vader costume was ultimately victorious. After that it was cake time. Richie showed how feeble his force powers were by taking several attempts to blow out the candles. Then came my favorite part of the evening [and the part that took the most effort and time to prep]… the Jedi Smack-Down. This involved black lights, PVC pipe parts, 1/2 inch foam pipe insulation, spray foam, spray paint and glow paint. Adults [even women] and kids all participated in the smack-down in the basement. It looked really cool and it was very therapeutic after all the stress from the preparation. All-in-all, I would say that it was a very successful party, and worth every frustration associated with it.

A great time was had by all. Some pictures below. [For more, see A Kiss, a Hug and a Squeeze]

target game

hey, no cheating!

A LOT! of Ewok Projectiles

Carbonite Freeze Tag

Guess who is "it"

[no caption necessary]

Special Guest!
[Mark Hammill wasn't available, Harrison Ford was too expensive, and let's just say that Carrie Fisher isn't what she used to be.]

JEDI SMACK-DOWN!
It looked a little greener, but this is definitely what it felt like… Awesome!