15

On December 1, Sarah turned 15. She spent weeks agonizing over what she wanted to do for her birthday until it all became too much and she asked me to plan it for her. I only had a couple of days to do so, but I knew that one of her biggest joys in life is when she is surrounded by her brothers and sister. I know to some this may seem like an unusual request, but in our house it isn't so much. I decided to just keep things simple. I planned a Blind Olympics (our 3rd annual, I believe), family board games, crafts, and a dinner out. Sarah ended up needing to take a nap during the day because she was tired (I did too), but I think she had a pretty good day over all.

Every year Bob makes the girls birthday t-shirts. 

Setting up for the first of 5 Blind Olympics activities: Blind Bowling

To make Sarah feel even more included we required her to wear a patch as well. 

Going with a different strategy...

The winner of each round got to pick a "fabulous prize" that Bobby and I picked up from the Dollar Store. The rules were that you could not look in the bag and you had to pick the first thing your hand touched. 

After the kids went, the grown ups decided that we wanted to play a round as well. 

Next came wheelbarrow races. Each of the kids had to make it from the front door, around the living room coffee table, and back. They then had to switch with their partner and do it again. First group back won.

Picking a fabulous prize for his team...

The next game was chubby bunny. If you don't know what this is, the basic gist is to shove as many marshmallows in your mouth as possible, one at a time, saying 'chubby bunny' after the insertion of each marshmallow. Last man standing wins. This game makes me gag for some reason and I don't even play!

We have a gagger! 

After chubby bunny the kids teamed up and tried to make a cake. It didn't work out too well...

Apparently, Josh thinks blind people don't need to use utensils when making batter?

One of the last rounds of Blind Olympics was a game of Simon. 

Sarah won. Doesn't she look so happy with her fabulous prize?

The last activity was a taste testing one. Sarah chose teams and the kids had to write down what they thought each item was. 

Sarah and Josh won! Another fabulous prize for Sarah and her brother. 

The kids were given a point for each round of Blind Olympics he/she won. Andy ended up with the most points and got to plaster Sarah with this whipped cream. 

Time to go to dinner. 

Happy Birthday, Sarah Marion!