Gabi's a-MAZE-ing Sunflower Sweet 16

My daughter's 16th birthday: We had decided on sunflowers as our inspiration before her 15th birthday because it seemed perfect for a November birthday. From there we came up with the food, decorations, and activities. We knew it would be a sleep over but my daughter wanted a special activity that wouldn't be your typical Sweet 16 activity but would still give a nod to the sunflower theme. It took a little work but I was able to find a venue a half hour away that was going to continue their fall festivities into November. Flushing Farms provided the perfect activities: three different corn mazes, petting zoo, two inflatable obstacle courses, bonfires, sunflower field, unlimited hay wagon and ATV barrel train rides, choice of complimentary donut and glass of apple cider (and we had no idea, but because it was their last weekend of the season, they dropped their prices to $10 per person!!! 😀). I had created a scavenger hunt for the girls to do in teams in the medium size maze. (The winners received a bottle of Bath and Body Works golden sunflower body wash.) After two and a half hours of thoroughly enjoying themselves at the venue, we returned to our home to continue the party there. I created a complete party space for them in our large finished basement. We had a pizza bar, dessert bar, foosball table, dart board, games, TV, mini fridge and microwave for midnight snacks all set up waiting for them. After eating and opening gifts, they started games. Some of the games I created were a candy stealing dice game, "How Well do You Know the Birthday Girl?" game (with a bottle of sunflower bath salts prize), and I wrote different questions on each piece of a Janga game that the girls had to answer when they pulled a piece out. The girls also played gartic phone, One Night Werewolf, fishbowl and watched "Anastasia". The girls ended up getting an extra hour of sleep because daylight savings time ended that night. The next morning they enjoyed homemade cinnamon sugar donuts and pumpkin donuts with chocolate milk or apple cider before heading home.

• What People Ate

  Choice of complimentary donut at Flushing Farms. Dinner: ham, pepperoni and cheese pizzas, and peanut butter dip topped with mini chocolate chips, and apple slices. Midnight snacks: Cheetos, popcorn and roasted sunflower seeds. Breakfast: homemade cinnamon sugar and/or pumpkin donuts.

• What People Drank

  Sunflower labeled water bottles, variety of white or yellow Gatorade, Sunkist, and lemonade. Breakfast: chocolate milk, apple cider, whole and skim milk.

• Desserts

  Cake, cupcakes, sunflower shaped spritz cookies, brownie truffles, white chocolate mousse, dirt pudding cups (all made by me)

• Party Favors

  2 sunflower shaped shower steamers for each girl

• Activities / Games

  Who Knows the Birthday Girl Best? game, Candy Stealing Dice game, Question Janga, scavenger hunt, 3 corn mazes, obstacle courses, petting zoo, hay wagon rides, barrel train rides, etc...

• Flushing Farms https://www.flushingfarms.com/#infinite-mobile-menu

  Venue