Happy Hogwarts Adam!

Ever since we finished reading the Harry Potter series this summer, my boys have been planning a Harry Potter birthday party.  Some days it was going to be Adam's party, some days Ethan's, some days we were going to get to throw TWO Harry Potter parties in one year!  I let the boys go wild with their ideas...soon enough we were planning Quidditch using harnesses strung from trees to simulate flight and personalized Quidditch jerseys for every party-goer.  Pinterest "Harry Potter birthday party" and it will send you into a tailspin...some moms sure do throw their kids some kind of crazy amazing parties.  This mom, however, decided to take it down a notch and throw a good old low-key birthday party for a seven year old, at our house, with some hokey homemade touches and a lot of help and inspiration from my boys.  Honestly, many of the little details I loved were lost on most of the kids - all it takes to make a bunch of seven year old boys happy is cake, running around in the fresh air, and party favors (particularly if said party favors are candy!).  But my Adam loved every little detail as much as I (and Ethan) did, and we had such a blast transforming our house into Hogwarts for the afternoon.


As an aside, I am not posting about this party to pretend I am anywhere near the leagues of party throwers I found on Pinterest, but rather to remember the little details we'll surely forget.  Just before Adam's party, we talked about every birthday celebration each boy had had since he was born.  The boys loved flipping back through the blog to see pictures.  So here's a little record of Adam's seventh birthday party, for all those times we want to reminisce in the future. 

After an initial stop at Ollivander's Wand Shop, we held a sorting ceremony.  Each boy put on the sorting hat and learned whether they were in Griffyndor or Slytherin.

Then it was on to potions class.  Each boy got a little cauldron in which to mix pond scum, bat wings, and other delectable ingredients to make their very own Polyjuice Potion.

Ethan was not a fan.  Nor were any of the other little wizards, actually.

Next we took that Polyjuice Potion-ed energy outside for a Care of Magical Creatures class.  This was really a hunt for snakes, spiders, owls, rates, and other magical creatures in our yard.  The boys LOVED this, and the two houses got quite competitive with one another.

We turned our dining room into the Great hall, serving up special treats for hungry wizards - fruit wands, pretzel wands, and a golden snitch cake.

What Harry Potter party would be complete without Quidditch?  While we had to abandon the harnesses and jerseys, the boys (and dads) did have fun playing a makeshift version.

Before the wizards left, they got to stop by Honeyduke's for some favors.

This turned out to be the perfect party for our littlest wizard.  He loved having all his best friends join him to celebrate, and loved his Harry Potter-themed (and non-Harry Potter-themed) loot too!