Seven with Soccer

Not fazed by last year's kickball debacle, we redoubled our efforts in 2014 and made Andres' 7th birthday party one to remember (for all the good reasons). The theme? The World Cup. No pressure.

In truth, it was hard not to choose the World Cup for a kid who loves soccer as much as he does--though when we asked him, way early in the spring, what kind of a birthday party he wanted, he originally told us that he really wanted to celebrate at Fun N Games. (There's context for this: he's attended about 8 parties there already. They run around like banshees playing laser tag for an hour, then they spend tons of money on video games, then they have cake, and then they need to go to detox for a few days.) An outdoor sports party seems lame in comparison. But with World Cup fever running rampant in our house, it wasn't too hard to convince him that soccer with his friends would be more fun than laser tag with his friends, and so it was settled. For this year, anyway.

I came up with the original World Cup idea and secured the permit for a picnic site at the Auburndale Cove. Natalia basically did the rest. This included: invitations, making cupcakes, buying juiceboxes, assembling teams, and making replica shirts for all participants.

The day of the party was perfect. We were blessed with a beautiful sun-drenched day, just hot enough to feel like summer, but not so hot that you longed for spring. The game format was simple: we divided everyone into four teams (USA, Italy, Brazil, Argentina), gave them the appropriate shirts, and then did an hour-long round robin. I did learn one critical lesson from last year: keep it simple, stupid.

In retrospect, I should have realized that kickball was a horrible choice for a bunch of first graders. Of course nobody knew the rules. And with only one player kicking at a time, there were ample opportunities for kids to wander off or become bored. Ugh. I really blew it last year.

But soccer is different. All these kids play soccer, so they know the basic rules--and can self-officiate, for the most part. And with two games going on simultaneously everybody was in on the action. No standing around this year. A much improved experience for all party-goers.

I gathered all the kids for a pre-game rules/pep talk. Have fun, play safe, etc. I think about 5 kids listened to me; the rest couldn't wait to get going. I gave in and released all the teams to their fields. Game on!

The USA and Argentina renewed their rivalry.

Naturally, some of the Brazilians played barefoot.

My man wore Argentina's #10.

(How cool are those jerseys? They were the highlight of the party. Kids were thrilled that they could keep them, and parents were impressed at how much effort went into the design and execution. And they looked really good, too. We used the countries' authentic logos, and Natalia printed them nice and big. She even included the appropriate stars for Brazil and Argentina! Definitely a labor of love, and one that took many, many hours.)

There were some tears, but thankfully far fewer kids cried (and fewer kids were injured) than last year. Progress. And my fear of one Superteam ruining the fun for all the other teams proved to be unfounded as well. The games were close, there were some upsets along the way, and nobody seemed too keen on keeping tournament stats. At the end, everybody humored me for team pictures.

Team Argentina featured friends old and new. And a sister.

With the competitive part of the party behind us, the party moved to our picnic site, which was at the far end of the Cove. This was far away where the soccer was occurring. And while parents and kids had been watching and playing soccer, a hungry squirrel had decided to make Andres' birthday dessert his own. He had been industrious, too, clawing through the plastic container that held 12 of the treats.  We arrived at the picnic site just in time to see him make the mad dash away from the cupcakes and into the forest.

Thankfully, Natalia to the rescue again. She had baked more than enough--so while the theft was unexpected, we had just enough to make sure each kid had a cupcake to him/herself.

Cupcakes!

Meanwhile, there were real World Cup games going on throughout the party. And they were important ones, too: it was Brazil vs Chile and Colombia vs Uruguay in the Round of 16. I avoided social media so that I could watch the games with a clear head once we arrived home, but many of the parents who stayed were glued to the game's livestream on their phone. This was no fun for me. The more I tried to ignore the outbursts of "ooh!" and "so close!", the more I wanted to ditch watching the game on my DVR (as well as my responsibilities as host) and just watch along with them. But I held strong, and though I heard some details of the Brazil vs Chile game, I was suitably surprised by the ending when I watched it later that night.

Male bonding...over soccer.

Once the cupcakes made their appearance the party went into low gear. Kids hung out, played chase, ran through the woods, and acted like a bunch of...well, kids. I managed to get a group shot before too many people had left. And that was it--everybody went home, jersey in hand, to watch some the real action.

The World Cup gang.

He hasn't started making plans for next year's party yet, but I'm anticipating he'll make another big push to have it at Fun N Games. With no Olympics and no World Cup on the horizon for next summer, he might get his wish.