As the kids are getting older, they are gravitating away from the usual types of birthday parties -- ones with crafts and games and a a whole slew of kids running around. Instead, the guest lists are limited to closer friends (especially with the ongoing, never-going-away pandemic) and I find myself thinking a bit "outside of the box" to make each party unique.
Earlier this Fall, I came up with the idea of doing an "escape room" at our house (!!!) for Samantha in honor of her 13th birthday -- something that she would truly remember forever. Most of Samantha's friends were not familiar with what one was (Samantha wasn't either), but once I explained the concept: they have to work together as a team to solve the mystery/be able to escape within a certain window of time, they seemed excited to try. They would find clues around the room, sometimes not knowing right away how to use them or fit them together, and hopefully be successful before the timer ran out.
Continuing with a red and black theme, I set up the guest tables in the back Family Room:
With 6 guests plus Sam and Sophia, we had the perfect setting for 8 people:
I asked Sophia to be my assistant -- oh, how much fun both of us had! -- and we worked tirelessly on the event for quite some time. I bought a kit online and then added to it/further embellished it to make it work for our party. We gathered props and made the room as realistic as possible, even filling "blood bags."
The theme was: "Mix Up at the Morgue" and we set up everything in the basement (in true-morgue style). We used the pool table and the air hockey table as the autopsy tables and the girls were both horrified and entranced by the scene once I allowed them to enter the area. (Side note: Samantha was not allowed in the basement for the entire week before the party and I asked some neighbors to come over and try it out ahead of time to determine if there were any issues. There ended up being a few things that Sophia and I made adjustments to and things went very smoothly for the party).
I found the plastic feet online at a discounted price after Halloween and Sophia even painted the toe nails to make them more realistic. The toe tag was one of the clues ...
Lots of extras were set up over on the side and appropriately labeled: urine sample, bile, stomach contents, formaldehyde ...
Some things, like this digestive system learning guide, were just props to add confusion to the event. They worked! And chocolate-wrapped eyeballs in a jar - yum!
Ultimately, the girls (there were 7 of them in total) had to figure out what information went with which case file for five different female bodies that were all brought into the morgue at the same time and had become mixed up. They needed to determine the name of each deceased member, which two personal effects went with each one and where each body was supposed to go after the autopsy.
Jack helped set up the file folders on a table:
The side tables each contained some important information that the girls gathered but weren't sure what to do with right away. For example, the zip code on one of the envelopes on the table ended up being the combination to a lock that opened up a bag with more clues in it.
The other autopsy table with some personal effects in the corner and a dry-erase board with clues hidden on it:
Steve's computer was set up in the corner with the County Morgue symbol on it. The girls found a flash drive and figured out that they needed to plug it into the computer to access the files on it (again, more clues!).
Trying to figure out what to do with this bag of blood ...
Putting puzzle pieces together to get one of the clues:
One of my favorite parts -- which I did not get a picture of -- was the jello-brain that was inside of a cooler and locked with a combination lock. When the girls finally figured out the combination, they were not prepared for the realistic-looking brain that was inside. Ooooh! They were so grossed out! And then they groaned when the figured out that they would need to dig into the brain to get the key that was inside of it. Ha!
The girls were given 60 minutes ... with the timer counting down ... and managed to solve the mystery and "escape" with just 1.5 minutes to spare. The adrenaline was running high and Sophia and I kept exchanging looks with one another wondering if they were going to make it.
Afterwards, I loved that they were all chattering away about it. They were re-living some of their mistakes, talking about their favorite parts and just plain excited that they did it!
Earlier, the girls had mashed potatoes, homemade chicken tenders, veggies and applesauce for dinner; but now, they were starving and it was the perfect time to have cake and ice cream. And some brain cupcakes!
I did not give Samantha any ideas as to what her cake was going to look like and she laughed so hard when she first saw it. Yup, the autopsy table -- complete with fondant feet and a toe tag -- with locks, keys and her real birthday with fondant numbers dyed to look like body organs.
It tasted great and I surprised her with SPARKLER candles! After all, you only turn 13 once!
The "thank you gifts" were dark red body lotion and shower gel from Bath & Body Works, along with some hand sanitizer (you can never have too much during the pandemic!) and chapstick.
Samantha is the best at opening gifts. She takes her time, is thoughtful and thanks everyone accordingly. Her friends know her SO well too.
Yup, a great group of girls!
Afterwards, some of the girls went home and some of them stayed for a sleep-over. Luckily, we were able to clean up the basement pretty quickly and the girls just stayed on a mattress down there. With a TV and a few snacks, they kept to themselves and then came upstairs the next morning for my homemade french toast sticks once they smelled the bacon cooking. Many of them, including Samantha are on the basketball team and needed to leave by 10 am for the game later that day too so it worked out perfectly!
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