Aili and a dear friend, Raechyl came up with this idea to have an Amazing Race Birthday Party. We used to love to watch the show. And, we are in a great place for Roadblocks, Detours and fun excursions and strange foods to try... So, I began to work on a plan. Now, let me say this is the most planning and prepping I've ever done for a party, but it was so fun and so worth it to see the smiles on these girls.
I can't say enough how thankful I am for our kids friends the Lord has surrounded them with the last 18 months. These girls are Aili's classmates and a wonderful group of girls.
First, the invite (made by copying what others had done online).
I found a pdf to download all the printables for $1.99 on Etsy then the print shop around the corner printed it all for less than $10. I did bring my own yellow paper to make the envelopes so that he printed in black/white which is cheaper than color printing.
After teams were formed and bandanas given out, shoes were removed. The team leaders took the shoes and hid them on the playground while the girls received some instructions.
Team leaders had the first clue waiting and ready for the girls. :)
But first, the girls had to find their shoes, then find their teammate. They gave their shoes to their teammate then could not touch them again. Their teammate had to put their shoes on them. Touching your own shoes was a 10 minute penalty.
1. Figure out the year of Aili's birth and then draw a picture of the Chinese zodiac animal for that year.
2. Unscramble the puzzle and once figured out task take picture or video doing it together. (It was "Slide Together")
12. Finally. They had to climb 10 flights of stairs to our home to finish the race. Every team finished and they all did AMAZING! Their leaders said they were all great encouragers and team players. :)
I can't say enough how thankful I am for our kids friends the Lord has surrounded them with the last 18 months. These girls are Aili's classmates and a wonderful group of girls.
First, the invite (made by copying what others had done online).
I found a pdf to download all the printables for $1.99 on Etsy then the print shop around the corner printed it all for less than $10. I did bring my own yellow paper to make the envelopes so that he printed in black/white which is cheaper than color printing.
Thankful for a friend who let Ian come play at their house for the afternoon/eve. Meisi and I had some time to play while the girls were racing but she was enjoying some of her favorite shows too. :) Afterwards she had fun taking selfies. :)
Once the girls came, we did the team reveal providing each a color and bandana. Each had an amazing leader. Y'all, I can't say enough about our friends too. They volunteered to help us out and were A-mazing! Love these ladies. :)
Team leaders had the first clue waiting and ready for the girls. :)
Once the team both have shoes on, their first task was given! 
I split the girls up a little so that they weren't all running the same directions. They had 12 different things they had to accomplish to finish the race. These aren't necessarily in order but here were their tasks.
1. Figure out the year of Aili's birth and then draw a picture of the Chinese zodiac animal for that year.
3. They had to solve the riddle, "The money the sky uses to buy coffee to stay awake all night." Once they solved it they had to find it. They were not allowed to use phones, and leaders couldn't tell them, but they could ask folks in the neighborhood.
4. Detour: They either had to dance with the older ladies (commonly done each night here in parks or neighborhoods), hit the whipping can (a game adult men play here), or if they couldn't find them (they usually do this in the evening), they had to hum and dance together for five minutes. Most of these were videos but here a pic with the whipping can. :)
5. They were videoed singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" in front of KFC while doing the hand motions. :)
6. They had to go to a specific candy store and buy between 9.5-10 kuai of candy. This task was difficult and exacting as the candy is only sold by weight. :)
7. Roadblock: This is a task only one teammate will perform. They had to first choose the one who is the culinary adventurer. Once chosen, they got the task - Eat 10 kuai worth of Stinky Tofu. Y'all this is a food you can smell well before you see and gets its name as it smells seriously stinky (think sewage). These girls were amazing! Such troopers!! I wish I could show all the videos!!
8. After this, a refreshing Detour activity. They could choose between a brainfreeze - drinking a delicious icee type drink (冰沙）or doing bumper cars. They all chose the drink, but the struggle was for real y'all. Brainfreezes - do you remember those??
9. They had to race back to our neighborhood to write notes to every contestant. Must be 50 letters long, neat and specific for that person. They also had to write a note to themselves. Middle school - man,... the time we need to be super encouraging of our friends right??
10. They had to find a gate guard, get his signature and take a picture with him. :)
11. Roadblock: They had to pick one teammate who had the best memory. As a child at Petrey Memorial Baptist in Hazard, I was taught God's telephone number (Jeremiah 33:3). They had to find the verse in a tree on the playground, memorize it, then tell it to their leader. Once recited without error they got their next clue.
12. Finally. They had to climb 10 flights of stairs to our home to finish the race. Every team finished and they all did AMAZING! Their leaders said they were all great encouragers and team players. :)
Final pitstop had food. Clearly I didn't calculate that they wouldn't be too hungry after all the tofu and icees.... So, we ate pizza all week here. :)
We certainly couldn't have done it without our sweet friends or without Aili's. :)
Thankful for finding a fun way to celebrate our Amazing Aili. :)
