It's TOP SECRET!

Check your identity at the door.
Assume your codename.
Prepare to be fingerprinted.

Agent 007 (Alias: The First Little Nguyen) turned seven yesterday, and today was his first Top Secret Mission! About a month ago, we decided on a fun, gender-neutral theme for the First Little Nguyen's 7th Birthday Party. Mission: BIRTHDAY was SO much fun to plan! Along with the invitation (mailed in an "evidence" envelope), each Secret Agent received a codename. When 007, Kung Fu Kid, Wisegirl, Sugar & Spice, Black Panther, Cobra, Sneaky Fox, Hurricane, and Wolverine arrived, they were fingerprinted, processed and given an ID badge. Then, the real fun began! Three Secret Missions awaited them: a Scavenger Hunt with a list of items to hunt down (a birthday candle, a red Duplo, a live bug, etc.), a Clue Scramble with seven riddles to solve and a package to "diffuse" at the end, and a Secret Message to decode (GO EAT CAKE!). There was Secret Snack Mix to munch on along with Apple Bombs, and then it was on to the First Little Nguyen's cake request: Triple Threat Layered Ice Cream Cake (brownie, chocolate ice cream and fudge) laced with M&M explosives. When it came to blowing out the seven sparklers on his cake, the First Little Nguyen had no problem. But this time, there was no smokescreen. He was prepared for the trick candles! The other kids hooted! Who knew $1.29 package of sparkler candles would be the hit of the party!?

After a near lethal dose of sugar, we went outside for a few minutes to let the Secret Agents run off some energy. With such unpredictable weather at this time of year, I learned a long time ago that planning February birthday parties was going to be tricky. Since our secret missions were a combination of indoor and outdoor activity, so the sunshine was a real blessing. After an hour and a half of Mission: BIRTHDAY, the kids needed to assume their real names and play a rousing game of soccer!

The Top Secret Spy Kits were the best part of the whole event. Who doesn't love a goodie bag with sneaky surprises in it? While most of the items were easy to find or make (dark glasses, ID badges, black memo pads, and disappearing candy), others were hard to come by (invisible ink pens, fingerprint kits, and secret eraser boxes). With a little research, we actually found out there is an International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., and they had a gazillion very cool spy-ish things to choose from!

After the party was over, the Secret Agents resumed their original identities and returned home. I love good, old-fashioned parties, the kind where you play games and eat all sorts of food that's bad for you (okay, I threw in the gratuitous Apple Bombs because I felt guilty about all of the junk food I was serving). Birthdays are so much fun for kids. They look forward to them all year long. So, it's completely worth it to put in a little time and effort to make these days extra special. There's really no secret in that.

Happy Birthday, First Little Nguyen!