Aloha XI: Wave Your Flag
Created: 12/25/2011
Length: 01:05:01

Ma$on Man, Kalani, California, Hawaii, Ashlee & Jon, El Salvador, Philippines, Barcelona, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, France, Drop It Low Girl

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Months ago Kalani got into Harry Potter. It all started with her getting Lego Harry Potter video game for her birthday day. She started to watch the movies and talking about it with my sister. Finally we got her to start to read the books. She has wanted me to throw her a Harry Potter party for a few months, but I just kept putting it off. We had some pretty fun vacations I wanted to enjoy before I thought about having a party.

Finally the vacations came to an end and I had time on my hands. I googled “Harry Potter party ideas” and my search gave me LOADS of ideas. I couldn’t do everything that I saw or read about, but I did do a lot. We had around 30 people attend and I think everyone had a good time…even the parents.

"A Magical Day" sign on our garage

They had to run through the "brick wall" to find the correct platform

Sign on our front door

Professor McGonagall had to give some instructions to all of the 1st years

The sorting hat told everyone which house they belonged to

Everyone got to choose their own wands

Each house had their own class schedule

They all practiced spells using their wands

Potions class

Mixing the ingredients to see if they made "Goblin Goo"

Our bearded dragon was part of the Magical Creatures class

Everyone hatched their own dragon egg and inside the slim was a baby dragon (dinosaur)

The Magic 8 ball was used for Divination (the art of fortune telling)

Everyone went home with one of these "fortune tellers"

Transfiguration class = dress up class. A witch, wizard and house elf

End of year feast in the Great Hall

Dragon Snot

Butterbeer

Everyone enjoying the feast

We also played my version of quidditch, but because it is so hot outside we didn’t play for very long. I had a lot of fun hosting this party. I don’t know if I will take the advice of one of the students and have a party every year though.

For the past 18 months I have been the activities chairperson for our church/ward.  And let me toot my own horn and say that I have planned some FABULOUS parties!  Kalani told me that I have the best job at church…that I am the party planner, so she is the luckiest kid at church since I am her mom.  We had the normal trunk-or-treat last year.  But for Christmas I wanted to do a luau so that is what I planned.  I taught everyone a dance and made Kalua pig and had some fabulous decorations.  I think that we had around 250-300 people show up.  Then in May I threw a Talent Show.  Really, if you give people (or maybe just the Farleys) an opportunity to be on stage with a microphone there will be fun times had by all!

Halloween 2009 at the Trunk-or-Treat

Christmas Luau 2009

Looking at the calendar I saw that Halloween would fall on a Sunday this year, so I knew I wanted a really fun and BIG activity so the kids wouldn’t feel like they missed out on anything.  I had a great committee and we really out did ourselves.  There was a photo-op area when you first arrived in the foyer to set the mood.  And then you followed the mice down the hall to find the food.  Each table was covered in black with cobwebs over it and different table decorations.  The food was served out of 3 coffins that my uncle made for me.  Ghost milk jugs lined the stage and some ghost hung from the ceiling.  Oh and the ceiling!  I bought table cloth rolls from oriental trading and dropped the ceiling with the table cloth and fishing line.  7 hours later and we had one fabulous cultural hall.  Strangers (to me) came to clean the building in the morning and then returned later that night just to see the decorations again during our party.

Dropped Ceiling

Ceiling and tables

Follow the mice to find the food

Food inside the coffins

After dinner we had a pie eating contest, got to know our bishopric a little better and then had a dozen various activities that the kids could do for an hour.  Games included: “candy” walk, BINGO, milk jug throw, pin the tail on the donkey, marshmallow throw, marshmallow guns, face painting, haunted house, etc.  And then to finish the night the kids went to the different classroom doors to trick-or-treat and could take home their own freshly made kettle-corn popcorn.

Trick-or-Treat ... decorated classrooms

It was so much fun to get it all ready and then to see the children and adults completely enjoy themselves.

Hide your kids, hide your wife ... and hide Sleeping Beauty too

When someone sends you an email asking if you’d like to catch dinner and the game, courtside, the answer is “Yes, please.”

Following are a few short clips from television intermixed with video from my camera phone. At the beginning you can see us taking our seats in the lower-left corner of the screen (I’m in the purple shirt). A few scenes are shown both from my phone and the TV.

We were a small group, but that just meant more food for us!