Reese Turns 11, or Does She?

For Reese's birthday this year, it took us a little while to figure out a theme that would adequately allow for the celebration a party year deserves. When Callie turned 11 we did the Amazing Race, so we wanted a similar caliber but less outdoors time in December. For better or worse, we came up with a whodunit murder mystery theme. Officially it was called a Christmas Catastrophe, and Reese and her party guests would each have a specific role. To get everyone primed for the night, we sent out individual videos explaining the role they were to play and the background story. Reese was Dasher, the head reindeer. She was excited for the evening and what she would get to do.

The pressure was on when a couple of Reese's friends rsvp'd and said they couldn't wait because Reese always has the best parties. We knew we needed all the help we could get, so Callie was on call all night to assist.

Callie did a fantastic job and helped make the evening a success. Reese was especially excited to have Callie be part of it all.

Here we see the cast of characters invited to Mrs. Claus's holiday party. Starting on the top row going left to right we have Meredith as the Gingerbread Woman, head cookie. Then Mary as Icy the Snowman, a frontrunner for the Christmas Icon award. Next is Emerson as Eddie the Elf, Santa's Bag Engineer. Callie is next as Fiona the Christmas Fairy. Last on the top row is Ella, Mrs. Claus herself. On the bottom row from left to right we start with Zoe, Mitzi the Elf, head of toy production. You've already met Reese as Dasher. And last, but certainly not least, is Shelby as Candy Cane, the Christmas guru.

We did not make up this mystery game but instead purchased the story and all the materials to make it happen. Each round the characters received clues that helped reveal different elements of the story. No one knew, including the victim herself, who was going to have a rough night at the party.

It was fun to watch them jump into character and try and figure out what was going on. Some girls showed up in character and others took a little while to warm up. But in the end they were all having fun with it.

This is Mr. and Mrs. Claus handing out the Christmas Icon of the Year award to Icy the Snowman. Rumor has it that Icy may have paid some people for their votes. You'll also note that Icy has a pretty hip look and that might be because her backstory includes the desire to be a pop star. We cast Mary well, because she played Icy to the hilt.

Truth be told, we also cast Mary in this role because we knew she had the disposition to melt without holding a grudge. Yes, it's true, Icy was the victim. Everyone found out, including Icy, during the second round of the clues and from that point onward it was a matter of trying to figure out who had melted Icy.

Based on the clues each girl received and shared, there were definitely some shady suspects. Mitzi was definitely not a fan of Icy, and the hair dryer used to melt Icy belonged to Mrs. Claus. (Ella was very concerned about her potential guilt)

In the end, however, the guilty party was none other than Dasher, the head reindeer who was concerned that Icy was going to undermine her role in making Christmas special. No one, including Reese, saw it coming. The girls had a lot of fun and continued to talk about the different clues into the next morning. Once the mystery was over, they settled in for ice cream sundaes and a movie. Fortunately for us, they went to bed relatively easily, slept well, woke up with smiles, and left the house having enjoyed another successful birthday. Reese was certainly happy with it all, and that's what really matters to us.

It's only fitting that Icy lived on in spirit in front of our house this Christmas season. One of Reese's favorite birthday presents was a long awaited inflatable Christmas decoration. She has been asking for something like this for years, and her family finally came through for her. This snowman is ten feet tall and lights up at night, so it was just what she wanted.

It should be noted that the snowman got his own name, Rocky, for the way he rocked back and forth in the wind. We didn't necessarily think we wanted such a decoration, hence how long Reese had to wait, but it turns out that we kind of liked it. Happy Birthday, Reese!