Sid's Gladiator Party

Sidney talked all year long about having an "American Gladiator" themed birthday party. Problem - a summer birthday means less friends from school could come, AND sister's party just a few weeks before was tiny (just family) so we didn't want to blow everyone away witha gynormous party for Sid when Alyssa got very little in the way of parties. ANYWAY, it turned out that Bobby and I only made the plans for the party a few days before, and the DAY of the party, just a few hours before it started and guests (grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins) arrived was when we put together the "Eliminator," inspired by the Eliminator obstacle course on the NBC show American Gladiators. The video is almost entirely made up of photos of each Gladiator running the Eliminator and getting a gold medal (hey, the Olympics were an inspiration, too!)
Gladiator names were as follows:
Bobby - JUSTICE
Jessy - AFTERSHOCK (because I'm deathly afraid of earthquakes)
Sidney - CRUSH (her favorite gladiator on tv)
Alyssa - FURY
Jack - BEAST
Grandpa Mike - STRIKE
Grandpa Bob - GRIZZLY
Oma Isolde - HELGA
Grandma Mary - SIREN
Aunt Sophie - CHARGE (as in CREDIT)
Cousin Jeremiah - THUNDER
Cousin Annie - BLAZE
Aunt Jenny - FLAME (red head!)
Aunt Ashly - MALIBU
Uncle Carlos - JET (a former pilot)
Cousin Andrew - POWERMAN
Cousin Stephen - LIGHTNING
Cousin Hannah - DEMOLITION
The star of the kids runs through the Eliminator were probably Annie and Miah, but Andrew, Sidney, Alyssa and Stephen really held their own. I think the average was about a minute. It was a five-step course.
The star of the adults - MALIBU - my sister in law to be ASHLY - she was awesome. I think she had 40 seconds or less. Amazing. She deserves a REAL gold medal...
Great party for a last minute thing! Never saw Sidney and cousins SO happy and smiling soooo much. They had a blast with minimal fighting, crying, whining and competitive ugly! It was great.