This year Brandon's birthday happened to be right in the middle of 5 very hectic weeks for us. So his party had to wait until the end of June. We gave him a few different options of how he could celebrate. He decided on having an overnight campout in our backyard. The plan was to invite some friends over, put up a tent in the backyard, BBQ some hot dogs and have a sleepover. When I actually sat down to plan it (which was less than a week before it took place, whoops) I started to panic. I wasn't sure how I was going to fill all of the hours before the kids finally went to sleep. Pin the tail on the donkey isn't exactly a game for a bunch of 9 year olds.
Everything worked out great though, like Chris always tells me it will. My dad agreed to drop the trampoline off at our house so that we would have it for the party. Chris got home only about an hour before the party started though, so getting it put together on time was impossible. Once he started he quickly realized that it was going to be a two man job. Lucky for us, one of the fathers dropping off his boys offered up some help. And 2 short hours later (gulp) we had ourselves a trampoline!!
While the guys were putting it together I worked on dinner. A couple of months ago at a garage sale I got a brand new slider patty maker. So I made a couple dozen of the mini burgers on the grill along with some hot dogs. After the boys scarfed down the food, they took turns in groups on the trampoline. After they were burned out on that for a little bit the older kids went into the house to play some games on the Wii that I had rented earlier in the day. While they did that Logan and Ian (another 5 year old) took advantage of the older boys' absence and claimed the trampoline for themselves.
Later on in the night Grandpa Jerry and Granny Kat came over to see if their gift was a hit and to share in the cake with us. After the candles were blown out, the cake was cut, and the gifts were open, we headed back outside. But not before handing out the gift bags to the boys. I made hobo sticks to try and stick to the "campout" theme. Each sack contained a squirt gun, mini binoculars, a glowstick, and a s'mores kit. I thought it was a great idea, until the kids were standing in the livingroom holding them over there shoulders and almost poking each other's eyes out. Then I made them all unwrap the sacks and take the sticks outside.
We lit the fire pit so the boys could roast their marshmallows, but they all had other ideas in mind. They spent the remainder of the night chasing each other through the trees and bushes and hanging out in the treehouse with their glowsticks. They FINALLY started asking to go to bed shortly before midnight. So we got everybody changed into their pajamas and set up everybody's sleeping bags. All of the boys slept together in the large tent, and Chris stayed across the yard in the smaller one. He said he didn't hear a peep from them after we zipped them in. They were pooped.
The boys all woke up at about 8:00, right in time for pancakes and bacon. When they finished eating they headed back out the trampoline. All still in their jammies. Parents started arriving at 9:00 and the fun had to come to an end. It was a great birthday party.
