The hockey birthday party

Who'd have thought, living in "the state of hockey" that it'd be so hard to find hockey-themed party decorations? (Because of course, when I asked AJ what kind of birthday party he wanted this year, his answer was "hockey".)  But apparently there's just not a lot of demand for hockey decorations. Several places had sports theme paper plates and cups, but those featured football, basketball, baseball and soccer. No hockey.

And so, once again, for the child whose party themes of choice have ranged from Peter Pan to presidents, I once again had to design the invitation myself.

Answer: A party hat trick

(Note to self, next time AJ wants to check out the invitations, make sure he hasn't just finished eating chocolate.)

We held the party at our local rink, and all but one of AJ's favorite teammates were able to come and play some hockey.

Owen, Carter and AJ

AJ also invited some of his best friends from school. I warned him that his friends who don't play hockey might not want to come, especially if they don't have skates. And for the most part, I was right. But thankfully, two of his favorite classmates were brave enough to show up. AJ did a good job involving them in the game.

AJ, Ben, Evan and Owen

One of the best surprises for me was how much the kids loved one of the indoor activities I'd planned. I'd picked up sheets of white fun foam and cut them into the shape of a mask. Using markers and foam stickers, each kid then got to decorate his own goalie mask.

From left: Owen, Wyatt, Carter (in mask), AJ, Daniel, Carver, Evan and Ben

 The boys totally got into it! We had Wild, Bulldogs and Esko themed masks by the time we were through, as well as a few that looked like something out of a horror movie.

For another game, trying to keep with the hockey theme, instead of pin the tail on the donkey, we blindfolded the kids and had them try to shoot a goal.

That lead to pleasant surprise #2. There was a group of older kids skating at the rink. We see these kids all the time - it's many of the same guys who graciously welcome AJ and other young kids to play with them. This time, it was the other way around. When they saw what Jeff was doing, they asked if they could line up after the kids to test their aim while blindfolded.

Back inside again, we opened presents and ate. Thank goodness the Cub bakery offers NHL-licensed cakes.

Sydney, AJ, Carter and Ethan

Among the other fun surprises (for me) was what the kids chose to eat. We had three kinds of chips, plus watermelon, strawberries and raspberries. The kids barely touched the chips, but by the end of the afternoon, all of the fruit was gone.

AJ really has a good group of friends. And they're at such a fun age: half trying to be cool, tough hockey players, the other half still sweetly innocent, giving hugs and shy smiles of thanks at the end of the party.

Looking back, I wish we'd been a little more organized in terms of having the boys do all the outside games first, and then come inside, rather than going in and out and in and out. But AJ had a lot of fun, as did his friends, and that's really the ultimate gauge of a party's success.