Olympics Birthday Party Planning

For Eloise’s birthday this year, we wanted to do something with family that felt festive and different from our usual group dinners and had some kind of fun activity at the beginning to bring us all together and provide entertainment. We decided to combine two ideas, a lobster bake and a family Olympics. Eloise chose the menu of her dreams, while Dinah took over the games. 

The Menu

Eating and cleaning up lobsters is enough work, so we ordered a big chunk of our menu ahead of time. 

Appetizers

Dinner

  • Lobster

  • Corn on the cob

  • Green salad

  • Tomato and mozzarella

  • Bread

Dessert

  • Carrot Cake - Eloise’s favorite!

  • Little bowls of gummy candy - our favorite way to make dessert more special and add to the table settings!

Decor

A lobster dinner tends to end up with a huge mess, so we chose washable blue and white seersucker tablecloths and cloth napkins, and used paper placemats with a lobster print on them. We used one long table and the decor centered around the Olympic theme with small flags that we purchased integrated throughout and a focus on primary colors. Since eating lobster requires extra bowls on the table for shells and melted butter, we kept to small vases for florals so that they took up less space and could easily fit. 

For the wider yard, we put a row of flags around the flower beds and bought and Olympic flag to hang on our shed to act as the medal podium. This plus the games made for a very festive atmosphere!

Games

We broke up the family into three teams (with little kids we wanted to ensure that everyone got a medal at every event) and Dinah planned a series of individual and team events that could be played in our lawn and  were accessible to all ages. To keep it fun and on theme, each event was based off of a real Olympic event and we gave points for each place, which were written on a chalkboard and tallied up at the end. The countries (Australia, Italy and Switzerland)  were picked from places Eloise had traveled, Dinah made a paper and tinfoil torch for the opening ceremony and we awarded medals after each event (ps- the medals we got from Amazon were so affordable and very nice - highly recommend these for any competition!).

Individual Events:

  • Shooting  - Each competitor had to fill up a water gun and extinguish three lit candles on a table. They went one at a time and were timed to determine the winner. 

  • Long Jump - We laid down a piece of rope for the starting line and had two yard sticks laid along the side for measuring. Three jumps each and the longest won!

  • Uneven Bars - We used our giant Jenga set for this one! It was a true nail biter and the longest event of the day. 

  • Volleyball - For this game we had two people from each team participate and they threw a water balloon back and forth as they moved farther apart. The last team to have their balloon break was the winner!

Team Event: Pentathlon 

  • This event  was timed and had five sections, one for each team member:

    • Rings: Swivel a hula hoop around a body part of your choice 5 times

    • Balance Beam: Run down the stone wall in the front of the house and tag the next team member

    • Running: Run from the end of the wall to the back of the house and tag the next team member

    • Handball: Get one bean bag through the cornhole hole

    • Swimming: Chug a Bud Light (Dinah’s nod to the college years)

Overall the night was a huge success! Everyone had a blast playing the games, none of the kids got upset over who won or lost, and the lobster dinner was not only delicious, but felt special and fancy. Happy birthday Eloise!!

Wellness/LifestyleDinah Saglio