While I still make it a point to celebrate each of the kids' birthdays, Ansel is now the only one who gets a themed party. Well, because he still enjoys it and it's the least I can do for him before he grows up.
So even though nowadays we don't throw a bash and invite handfuls of people over, we still make it a special celebration for him and have a family party where we play games, blow the candles and eat yummy cakes.
For his 4th birthday this year, he wanted a Sheriff Labrador theme because it is currently his favourite cartoon. Remember last year where we went full out for his Spider-Man party and the kids wore head to toe costumes as Spidey, Miles and Gwen? Well, we couldn't replicate that for Sheriff Labrador but at least we did have masks and a striking, personalised backdrop with a cute photo of the birthday boy.
Here's sharing more about his 4th birthday party and all the highlights, games, laughter and memories we shared.
Introducing the main characters - Sheriff Labrador (Ansel), Officer Dobie (Asher), Officer Papillon (Ariel) and Dr. Antel (Angel) who is a scientist and the antagonist in every show. Yes, pardon the cheapskate DIY masks that I cut and laminated but hey, at least everyone was okay to put it on and snap some photos for keepsake.
Game #1 - Stacking Cups
In a test of reflex, we battled out in pairs as we tried to compete and determine who could stack and move the cups faster. The aim was simple — each stack has a different coloured cup, move it all the way from bottom to the top and back to being the bottom cup again.
I thought I was pretty fast at this game, only to realise that I lost in the end. And when we played back the video, we realised the hubby went against the rules and remove one whole chunk of cups instead of one by one. Argh. Haha. Cheater bug.
The games we play might be very simple ones but they always bring about lots of fun and laughter. The kids are always game to try something new and thus it is entirely up to me as the game master to plan activities that they will love and have a blast. Check out our video at the end to see all the happenings.
Game #2 - Cuff the Villain
This is a variation of the usual ring toss game and instead of aiming and hooking rings onto bottles, we had to toss handcuffs onto a wooden mannequin which I had stuck a picture of Dr. Antel onto.
This was a fun edition and we tried making the mannequin do different poses to see which made ir easier for the handcuffs to hook onto.
Game #3 - Shoot the Bad Guys
Every policeman needs to have good marksmanship so of course we had to include a shooting game. This is always a fun one for the kids who love to compete and see who can get more points and be the best shooter.
For the targets, I printed and laminated all the bad guys in Sheriff Labrador and used cardboard as a base to make each of them stand. Such an easy idea but it is a good way to inject fun that is in line with with party theme.
Game #4 - Hunt for your Character
Since each of the kids was assigned a character (Sheriff Labrador, Officer Dobie, Officer Papillon and Dr. Antel), for this next game, I printed out copies of the characters and hid them all over the house. So they were tasked to look for their own characters and if they spotted other characters, they had a choice of whether to hint to the other kids or not. Well, all four of them chose to help each other out and that was quite a heartwarming sight to see.
Game #5 - Pin the Tie
So most of us would know what is Pin the Tail on the Donkey but I bet you have never played Pin the Tie on Sheriff Labrador. Haha. For this game, I used our printer to print out eight A4 sized body parts and painstakingly joined them together to form a giant Sheriff Labrador picture. Then I printed out a same sized tie for each of us and wrote our names onto the ties.
The aim was to stick the tie onto the correct place and see who did a better job. It was made harder because we had to be blindfolded and spin three rounds so it was really funny when some of the kids lost their direction and didn't know where the door was.
Game #6 - Retrieve the Key
For this game, the kids had to do it in pairs. One person will be handcuffed while the other is blindfolded and has to retrieve the key in a sea of balls to release his partner. The kids had fun competing to see which pair could do it first.
Game #7 - Blow Out the Candles
To test our lung capacities, we had a contest to see who could blow out more candles. Oh, actually I used tealights instead because they are much easier to handle. The initial plan was to take one big breath and just blow in a straight line.
However, the hubby had other thoughts and said this was too easy. So we changed it to shouting out "Sheriff Labrador" instead and see who could extinguish more of the tealights. It is VERY hard and some of us could only manage one or two tealights and it was hilarious because we would be holding our breaths and dragging the "Dorrrrrrrrr" for as long as we could till our faces turrned red. Haha.
Game #8 - Sponge the Villain
This last activitiy was Ansel's favourite game of all! I cut out this huge cardboard and pasted the picture of a bank robber, leaving a hole to insert our heads. So the hubby took on the villain role, wore an eye mask and sacrificed his face to let the kids throw water sponges.
They took turns to wet the sponges and aim at Papa while being blindfolded and got a big laugh whenever Papa pretended to be in pain after a hit.
After all the fun games, of course we had to bring out the cake and have a cake-cutting ceremony. Ansel wanted a small rainbow sponge cake so we settled for two small cakes instead of a big one, and added fruit toppings too.
The siblings presented their handmade cards to the birthday boy and he was over the moon to see their cute drawings and words of love for him.
While his birthday party wasn't lavish or elaborate, it spoke volumes of love and joy, and I hope this darling of mine knows how deeply loved he is.
Dearest Ansel,
Happy turning 4! It's amazing how four years have passed us by but it's been an absolutely incredible and wonderful journey with you ever since you kicked your way out of my tummy at 35 weeks old.
You are our gem and our cutest, youngest baby and Papa, Mama, Korkor and Jiejies love you to the moon and back. I'm sure you feel our love for you every day, right?
I never thought I would be a mum to four kids and it probably scared me last time but you are living proof that having a 4th kid can be the best thing that ever occurred to me and I count my blessings that I have you in my life.
Hope you enjoyed your Sheriff Labrador party to the max and may you stay a loving, kind, cheerful, adorable and huggable boy always. I love you to the moon and back, my love.
We ended off his special day with warm sparklers, wet kisses, bear hugs and endless joy in our hearts. Till the next birthday party!
We love you, dear Ansel!
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Here's showcasing all the fun highlights at Ansel's Sheriff Labrador party!
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Read more on Ansel's birthday parties here:
Ansel is 1 - Baby Shark Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo
Ansel is 2 - Let's Have a Cocomelon Party
Ansel is 3 - Your Neighbourhood Friendly Spider-Man
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