Jack's Epic Video Game Party with Friends

Many months ago, when I talked to Jack about a 'theme' for his upcoming birthday party, I suggested video games.  He smiled but kind of shrugged his shoulders as I'm sure that he had a mental picture of a bunch of friends all sitting around our living room playing games.  It sounds fun, but that would be something that he could do any weekend of the year ... if he wanted.

But you see -- I had something else much bigger in mind.  I had already researched and looked into renting an actual video game trailer that we could have parked in our driveway for the kids to play in.  There would be lots of remotes, lots of seating and LOTS of games to choose from.

I purposely waited until the time got closer before telling Jack what my real plans were; I wanted to be sure that we were able to book the party and I wanted to be sure that most everyone that he wanted to invite was able to attend.

Using the lime green and black color scheme, I set up the event in the garage.  I chose to do drawstring bags for party favors (the boys use these all the time to haul things including their sports gear) and assembled tubes with green gum balls in them to give out.

A close-up of the bags and the gumballs:

Some fun tablecloths and backdrop ... and balloons too!

We blew this balloon up with regular air from our air compressor and it has lasted so long!

As soon as the guests began arriving, they all made a bee-line for the zipline in the backyard.

This is a main event at our house -- not just for parties.

Within a half-hour, the video game truck arrived in our driveway and began to get set up.  The kids went crazy!

We served pizza and gatorade and as soon as their hands were clean (!!), we turned them loose for 2 full hours of video game time!

Posing for a quick picture to appease me:

Later, everyone stood outside of the truck and allowed me to take a picture as the sun was beginning to set:

And then a funny one!

By then, it was time for dessert (Jack chose brownies), ice cream and a little more popcorn:

Such a great group of boys:

The next day, we celebrated with family at our house and of course, I decorated the picture in the dining room to match the theme and made a cake.  I even surprised Jack with a special shirt for the day.

The lighting wasn't the best, but the video game controller turned out pretty great and then I filled in with some leftover brownies and a few cupcakes (with extra green gumballs).

Happy birthday to my nine-year-old boy!