A Swinging Good PAR-TEE!!

Ethan turned 9 last weekend.  Zia was able to make a pit stop on her way back to Calgary from Toronto and surprised him at his birthday dinner.

Presents at breakfast

Thanks Grammy and Gramps!

Checking out the picture of his new bike from Nonnie and Nonno (which awaits him in Calgary)

Dinner at Montana's - the wait staff serenading him came as a shock... but not as much as having to stand up wearing moose antlers!!

When we got home from the restaurant, Zia presented Ethan with his birthday gift.  A few weeks ago she had asked him on the phone what he wanted.  He said an ipad.  When she asked him for another option, he said candy.  Let's just say she more than delivered on one of his two choices.  With every box full of candy he opened, his eyes got wider and wider.  He couldn't have been more excited.  I have a video of him opening all the boxes but I sadly missed the "JACKPOT" holler upon opening the last box that was filled to the rim with more heaps of candy.  Josh and Leah are already asking when their "candy birthday" will be.  Sigh... thanks Zia... ;)  

THANKS ZIA!!! (check out the look on a jealous little brother's face)

The Malins then came over with some more gifts for the birthday boy.  Check out the fully signed Rider shirt Ethan is excitedly sporting!

A DQ Blizzard cake from the Malins topped off a most excellent day! 

Due to hockey tryouts (which are completely dominating our weekends this month), we had trouble finding a time when we could throw his party.  We finally found a window this past Saturday but it unfortunately conflicted with one of Josh's tryouts, which meant that Pete and Josh had to miss out on some of the party fun.  Thankfully Melissa once again came to the rescue and she helped me as we threw Ethan the party of his dreams.  For a kid who still aspires to be a minigolf owner, just imagine his delight when he was given the opportunity to transform our front and back yards into his very own minigolf course!!!   

The dining room set up (a la Melissa of course!!)

The buffet

The birthday banner

Ethan wouldn't forgive me if I didn't post every hole he designed.  Using a bunch of stuff provided by Melissa and a few odds and ends from our garage, he put together an awesome course.  Here is hole 1.

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 4 (in the garage)

Hole 5 (in the garage)

Hole 6 (walkway to the backyard)

Hole 7

Hole 8

Hole 9 (tee off from the top of the fort, down the slide and up the ramp)

We also had some competitions - the "Chipping Challenge" proved to be the hardest.  The kids had to chip from the deck into the bucket inside the laundry basket.

The "Hole in One" competition used the new putting green from the London and New Liskeard Corneils.

Closest to the pin also was from the deck.  There were of course prizes for the winners of each competition.

Ethan setting up the registration table

I personalized the t-shirts for all the golfers (yes I love iron-on transfers)

The personalized mini-sticks that doubled as golf clubs

Ethan snapped a picture of Melissa and me together - not a great shot unfortunately but you can see the "Keep Calm and Golf On" shirts she made us.

Ethan registering his first guest.  The kids received their shirt, stick, ball and score card at the registration table, and had 2 chances to guess how many tees were in a jar.  Ethan then personally took them through the course. 

The Accuracy Competition underway (the kids had to get a ball into one of the four corners of the net)

Taking a break for pizza

The kids minigolfing (after they all had practiced, they went in pairs through the course and recorded their scores - the lowest score won a prize).

The whole crew

Opening presents

I outsourced the cake to Geoff (my favourite Dairy Queen owner) and he did a FAN-FREAKIN-TASTIC job. 

Making a wish and blowing out the candles

Needless to say the event was a huge success.  Thankfully we have a couple of months before Leah turns 5.  She has already taken Melissa aside and given her specific instructions as to what she wants.  I guess our days of having parties outside the house are behind us.  Haha.  Fortunately all the hard work is so worth it.  Happy birthday Ethan!!