Harry Potter

Hi all :) It's been a year, sorry! But you all knew up front how bad I am at this.

Yesterday we had Satina's 10th birthday party. Yes,I said tenth. What?

It was a Harry Potter themed party and it was the biggest one yet, and judging by the reactions of the kids and parents alike, the best one yet as well. This was our first outdoor party, because her birthday is in February and weather is unpredictable, even in Florida. We were lucky enough to get the largest Pavilion at one of the local parks, right on the water. We were also right next to both the bathrooms and the playground, which with kids is an ideal situation. The best part was the price! Normally for a venue for her party we pay around 300 bucks for two hours, not including food, decorations or favors. The pavilion was only 53 bucks, for four hours! Amazing! The weather ended up being absolutely gorgeous, sunny and in the mid seventies. The only thing we didn't account for was the wind coming off of the water, which complicated the hanging of some of the decorations, but we figured it out!

Everything was DIY, from the invitations to the pinata, the decorations to the favors. It was so much work! lol.

The party started by the kids lining up to be sorted into Houses by the Sorting Hat (made by Christina). After selecting their house they received a coordinating scarf(made by Mom) and chose a wand (Made by Christina)

Next came the great feast, as is traditional. Noone remembered to get pictures of the table before the hungry kids got to it. The menu consisted of chicken strips, popcorn chicken, potato wedges, pepperoni and cheese pizzas, a vegetable tray, a fruit tray, chips and dip, water, juice and Butterbeer. The Butterbeer was a HUGE hit amongst the kids and adults alike.

After everyone finished eating it was time for classes! We had Charms,Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Potions and Transfiguration. The kids divided into their houses and took turns going to each station. They each had a report card to be signed so we could make sure they did everything.

Charms consisted of Professors Dill and Ivy teaming up to teach the kids to levitate an item. 'Wingardium Leviosa'!

The aforementioned wind had a little something to say about that, so an equal amount of time was spent chasing the balloons as was 'levitating' them.

In Herbology the kids learned about and planted ginger in little pots to take home with them.

Potions class had them combining ground up dragon scales (koolaid powder) and unicorn tears (happy tears only of course; sprite) to make colorful, tasty combinations.

 The most popular class, aside from Dark Arts, was Transfiguration. The kids selected a piece of candy in a cup, put it into the Transfiguration Chamber, waved their wands over the box three times while saying 'Colorvaria', tapped the box, and if all had gone right when they reached in and got their cup out the candy would be gone and replaced with a small toy/eraser. They loved it and wanted to do it again and again!

After these classes were finished we moved on to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Christina made a Dementor pinata for the occasion and as each kid took their turn everyone shouted 'Expecto Patronum' to help conjure the students Patronus. After each kid took their turn they were given a couple Hershey's kisses, because you HAVE to have chocolate after facing a dementor!

After finally defeating the Dementor, it was time for cake and presents! We got ours from an awesome local-ish teacher who makes cakes on the side. It was all hand drawn in buttercream, and super tasty. We will be using her from now on!

Before the kids went home we took a group picture, individual pictures at Platform 9 3/4, and they got to fill up their treat bags at Honeydukes. They also received Diplomas and necklaces.

You may have noticed in some of the photos that we also had a quidditch pitch. Unfortunately time ran out before we were able to play that or do the Bean Boozled challenge.(Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans) Satina and her friend Tyler did play Bean Boozled as we were packing up and were unfortunate enough to get the dog food and rotten egg flavors. It was hilarious.

All in all it was a wonderful party, and many of the parents rsvp'd for next years party. lolol. One even volunteered to allow us to use their yard when they found out that it was going to be a sleep over! lol. Here are some details/and decorations from the party. We had a LOT more but time got the best of us, so our floating candles, and assorted decor never left the boxes we brought them in.