The Party has Encountered a Dragon: A Dragon Party for Will's Ninth Birthday

cardboard shields and balloon swords

a castle to paint and play in

a treasure hunt for the dragon's hoard

This is exactly like an Easter egg hunt, only I used the painted rocks from my DIY Treasure tutorial. 

 Dragon Tag

Rip old fabric into "tails." Have the kids close their eyes, and pass out tails to the majority of kids, who should tuck them into the backs of their pants so that they hang down. Have the tailed kids, who are the dragons, start running first, then let the other kids, who are the knights, open their eyes and chase them. A dragon whose tail is pulled off becomes a knight, and helps chase dragons. The last dragon is a champion, and so is the knight who has the most tails. We played this a second time without closing eyes, and with each kid choosing whether she wanted to be a dragon or a knight.

 watermelon, chess cookies, chocolate ice cream, and a castle cake

Yes, the cake did look about as bad as I was afraid of, but I don't care. I let the girls decorate it--can you tell? I've started making these super-long birthday candles for the girls now; Willow requested blue and yellow.

 friends and sisters to celebrate with

presents that are always so thoughtful

and, of COURSE, a walk to the park to finish

And that's how a great kid has herself a GREAT birthday party. Nine is going to be a good year, I can already tell.