Look Who's 40!!!

Oh my goodness! I'm 40! I have actually been looking forward to it all year since one of my girlfriends turned 40 in February. I feel like now I'm really an adult. Well, you know what I mean... some people feel sad or scared to hit the big 4-0 but I really feel excited... like I'm ready to step up and in to more of who I'm meant to be. 

To celebrate, I decided to do an Olympic themed game night! Rick & Kellee hosted the event at their fantastic home... so we asked everyone to dress comfortably in their favourite country colours and bring an international dish for supper... 

 LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!

 Tony was a huge help organising the games. Inspired by the Minute-to-Win-It website  (http://www.nbc.com/minute-to-win-it/how-to/), we chose games suitable for our space and crowd... gave them Olympic themed titles... and organised the group into three teams so we could have Gold, Silver and Bronze standings. It took a bit of organising, but it was worth it as a good time was had by all!!!

 Amanda, Minzhen, Rautini and Rodney - just waiting for the games to begin! We had a bit of an "Opening Ceremony" where I was able to share "Competitor Profiles" - which was my way of honouring each person who was gathered to celebrate with us. We passed the Olympic Torch, said the Olympic Oath and then... the competition began... and oh boy... the competition was fierce!!!

 Derek was my team's representative in the "Fencing" challenge... and although he worked very hard...

 it was Mike who came out with the Gold in this event.

 Amanda B was up against Tony and Rick in the "Weightlifting -  snatch" and came out victorious!!!

 Amanda S and Tini tried hard in the "Synchronised Swimming" but it was Andrew and I who earned the Gold for our team!!!

 The Olympic Games wouldn't be complete without "Shooting"...

 or "Tennis". 

Tennis was the hard one... there was a tennis ball in a pair of pantyhose tied around my waist... I had to try to knock over the bottles without using my knees or legs to help push.

When we were putting the games together, Tony and I realised it would be much more fun if we had a Game Master, thankfully Frank was available - he was perfect! Though he got a bit of stick from the ultra-competitive among us... he made sure we all played fair. Thanks, Frank!

"Rhythmic Gymnastics" - ha!!! 

Poor ole Minzhen, Anne and Jane got dizzy as they spun those lovely TP ribbons! 

 This was our tally board where we had Gold, Silver or Bronze magnets on each event so we could keep a medal count throughout the night.

SO yes... it was my party but we worked hard and earned GOLD!!! 

Silver!!!

Bronze!!!

After our wild games, we sang Happy Birthday to ME with this amazing cake Jane made!!! She is so talented and this was just the coolest cake I think I've ever had (sorry mom... I can't remember any of the cakes I had as a kid... actually, since we spent many of my birthdays camping at San Clemente I remember more brownies and lots of ice cream). She even made a gluten-free option in the bottom layer... which we ate (and shared) for several days afterwards (I finally finished it off with the other moms while Helena was in ballet class on my actual birthday on the Monday).

Thanks everyone for the fun night! 

Darren just sent through his photos... I can't be bothered to re-arrange everything but here's some more documentation from the evening... 
Thanks for the great photos, Darren!

 Like the Olympic Rings Helena and I made for our O for Olympic theme in school??? We painted solid colors at her kindy then we cut them up and glued them into Olympic flags... we've been having fun with this whole Olympic thing!

 Here's a better picture of our Game Master - Frank - just going through a few notes with ultimate Game Master - Tony

 Here's Mike in action on the way to his Gold for Fencing!!!

 Weightlifting competition

 Synchronised Swimming contestants

 Barclay had the touch in the Basketball competition...

 This was the Pole Vault!!!  They had to suck up m&m's with a straw and transfer it to an upright straw... pretty tricky!!!

 Equestrian - jump horse - this was the funniest event, though hotly contested Laurene did come out on top in this game... but everyone's sides ached just watching!!!

Thanks for the years of friendship - here's to many more!!!