Five Backpacks: Pokemon Partytime

yes, I'm months behind. I know.

We did have another birthday though!

Porter is Nine!!! Yikes!!!

(and sporting broken arm #3 in all the pics. poor guy. that is another post though)

My baby is disappearing and turning into an amazing boy!

This was his last birthday in the single digits.

Not going to lie, I'm very upset about this.

We celebrated with cozy decor and treats on the day of,

and then had his big Pokemon Party on the weekend.

He was thrilled for both.

Since we are in Japan, and he and his friends are basically obsessed with POKEMON,

it was an easy choice for a Pokemon themed bash!

the Cake

the Decor.

Also, a huge shout out to my awesome friend A who made all these awesome posters and Pokeballs.

She's my hero, and I totally took these from her back in DC and brought them all the way to Japan with us, just for this occasion! Now that's thinking ahead! They looked fabulous!!

I think Porter had more fun helping me pick out the goodies for the goodie bags than almost the rest of the party! He handpicked Pokemon for each of his buddies. He was so proud.

First up on the party agenda, was a giant Pokebattle.

Sure made my life easier

having that be the main thing on his agenda.

I didn't have to do anything for this party game. Win. Win.

Then we ate lunch, to fill their tummies...

before some hardcore Pokemon BINGO!!

It's no secret that Porter loooooovvees BINGO.

(Thank you Oakwood Bingo nights)

And really, who doesn't love a good round of BINGO?

All the boys had a blast! It was also quite the scene as I barely sounded out each strange Pokemon name, they all instantly knew what I was saying and found the picture before it was even out of my mouth. I will never understand the world of Pokemon. It is a whole different world, and a whole different language. These boys all apparently speak it fluently!

My big showcase was the Bingo. After that we just went for straight fun, not necessarily "theme". I chose a couple of Minute-to-Win-It games to round out the afternoon.

They were awesome, if I do say so myself!

We did the Oreo on the Forehead game next.

They had to get the Oreo from their foreheads into their mouths using only their facial muscles. It was hilarious! I think I will employ this again when I'm needing to occupy them during summer or Christmas break!

We also did the Spaghetti game. They had to string at least 3 penne on a piece of Spaghetti using just their mouths. This was pretty hard actually, but totally worth it. It helps build their concentration skills, that for sure!

My beautiful birthday boy!

Now, special mention to the fact that we are in Tokyo,

and have access to such places as the Pokemon Center.

Yes, that Amazing pink bag, courtesy of his cute friend K-

had some super awesome exclusive Pokemon gear in it,

that is sold no where else in the world but the Pokemon Center.

Porter was SO excited about that!

He absolutely loved everything else he got too,

and we feel so lucky that he has such a sweet group of friends.

Thanks so much again guys! Porter is one lucky boy!

And a classic group shot- Japanese style!

Now this cutie gets a special shout out-
both to him, and to the wonderful Japanese culture.

After lunch, when all the rest of the boys hurried into the other room, K stayed and insisted on cleaning up the entire dining room with me! Needless to say I was very impressed. I made sure to tell Porter that he was a friend I wanted him to keep forever! ha!

(if you want to know more about this awesome cultural trait, just google how the Japanese team acted at the most recent World Cup. so awesome!)

Porter and his buddy K.