We had Kameron's party for his 9th birthday recently.
We decided to do a camping theme for this years party.
Boy's love being outside and the weather wasn't too cold but
cold enough to "feel" like you were really camping.
We had the party in our backyard.
Let me warn you: This is a photo heavy post.
Here are the results of a great time....
Here is the tent we set up.
We had a total of 7 boys and my husband in this tent.
They had plenty of room and lots of fun inside.
This is some of the decor for the party. I will start with those pictures first.
These trees are Christmas trees, I actually took them out of Kameron's room (previous post) to use as decor. They added great lighting once it got dark and of course the trees for the "outside" feel.
This is the snack table.
Candy, Smore fixins, chips, hot chocolate with marshmallows.
Tree branches and pine cones for fiber. :))
The big picture of one of the tables set-up.
This pile of clothing and life jackets is for a game later in the party.
When the boys arrived, we had them target shoot with Kameron's bow n arrow and BB gun.
It was so fun to watch these boys with these fun toys.
My husband was right there to teach them to be smart and did not allow anyone of them to just take the weapon and mess around with it.
This is a great group of boys and all were great and listened very well.
Some had shot before and some hadn't.
Here are the fun pics...
Noah...
Austin...
Tyler...
Ryan...
Kameron (my favorite, but I'm a little biased) :))
Eddie...
Hugo teaching the boys how to shoot.
Brooklin was so excited to shoot too. She loved it!
She really is like one of the boys.
She is not the girly, girl.
Trevor....
Colby...
More teaching and training on where to shoot the animal on the target.
These boys look so intense. I think they loved it.
When they weren't shooting, the rest of them played on the swing set and trampoline.
Or they watched how close the other shooters got to the target.
Lukie...
Kameron...
Once it got a little darker, Shine had some great plans for games for the boys.
She really did a great job with this, I gave it over to her. Thank goodness!
She did much better with this part than I would have.
I was so thankful for her. She was a huge help.
Thank you Shine!! :))
The first game was an obstacle course.
They started at the edge of the grass carpet with a pile of army clothing,
including hats and life jackets.
They had to put all that on, jump on the trampoline 9 x's (Kameron turned 9 yrs), jump across the carpet inside a sleeping bag, run through a ladder, run around the water hose, around the tent 2 x's, up the stairs on the swing set, down the slide, undress and tag the next person.
These boys laughed at each other and encouraged each other. They loved this game.
Here are the pics..
Here they all are when it was over. Such a great blessing of boys.
We are so thankful for Kameron to have such great friends.
We love their families too.
After the obstacle course, Shine had planned a scavenger hunt.
Their items included:
3 leaf clover, 9 pine needles, a flower, a stick, pc of grass, 5 plastic bugs(these were the only thing we placed out ahead of time), a dead bug, something plastic(not including the bug), and
Bonus: A live bug. (I was not the one collecting this one).
Here they are looking through all their items they found.
This particular team had a live bug but then it crawled away.
They were not too happy. Might I add these boys are quite competitive.
We reminded them it was just a game.
Then all was well.
This was the winning team. They had everything, including the live bug.
The next thing Shine planned was Flashlight tag.
They loved this game and it was soooo quiet during this time
because they didn't want to be found.
They ended up playing it for 45 min.
This is Shine giving them the directions and rules.
Brooklin and Trevor.
Brooklin is Kameron's sister (my daughter) and Trevor is Colby's brother.
These two are at a lot of the events the boys are at and they were in the same Kindergarten class
with the same Kinder teacher their older brother's had.
So they are good friends and get along great.
Brooklin wanted to invite Trevor and they had their own camp-out inside the warm house,
upstairs in a little tent while they watched a movie. Until they both fell asleep.
The girls with the birthday boy.
I love my children! I am blessed!
Pizza time. No pizza is not a camping food but that's what Kameron wanted and hey it was easier than gathering all the hot dog supplies.
Then we did birthday cake.
Closeup of the cake. I had the store make the cake with the border, some grass and airbrush the top. It's not really what I asked for but it turned out fine.
I asked for some extra frosting to "glue" the tent together.
I took two pop tarts and put them down in the cake and
used the frosting as glue at the top, then frosted the sides to match.
I also had asked the bakery to make little rocks around the fire pit.
I then broken up pretzels became the firewood and the candle was the fire.
I added a flag outside the tent, just printed text on colored cardstock glued to a toothpick.
Then added some trees. These trees were not my original plan for trees but it worked.
I was going to take sugar cones turn them upside down and use a leaf tip with green frosting to create the trees. I liked this option better but this was the 2nd option.
I feel ok with it but would have preferred the first option.
Kameron didn't know the original plan, and he loved his cake.
That's all that mattered to me.
We added the correct amount of candles when it was time to blow them out.
Love this guy!!
The boys singing Happy Birthday!!
Present time!!
Brooklin and Kameron.
Shine and Kameron.
These two are becoming great friends, even with the big age gap.
That makes me very happy.
Hugo and Kameron
Me and my boy.
The group of great boys!
Little Coco was at the party too.
She loved watching them all run around the yard and the activity.
I really think she wanted to get down and crawl around the yard too.
It was a little cold outside at this time of night.
So I put her warm jammies on, a sweatshirt, hat & gloves.
Of course, she loves the binky, and she doesn't care if it's upside down.
Here she is before the party started. She looks a little more presentable here.
I love her both ways.
She loves her Shine.
By this time, the boys wanted to start the fire and roast some marshmallows.
What's camping without campfire and marshmallows.
Here's a pic of the hot chocolate. Yum!!
I really felt like I was camping until I went upstairs,
got in my bed and snuggled my Shine for the night.
After running around all night, campfire, sticky marshmallows with hot chocolate, they were pooped, they actually asked to get inside the tent.
I went in there bravely for a little while, I loved listening to their fun conversation.
They talked about fun things, gross things and laughed and laughed.
The next morning, we made breakfast easier than the normal camping pancake breakfast. I knew the boys would rather play and do more target shooting and just hang out by the fire. So we went with donuts and french toast sticks with syrup.
We don't eat like this normally so Kameron was quite excited and thought it was a "special" breakfast.
Blurry pic :(( but Brooklin thought this was the best breakfast ever.
Party Favors..
I went with the outdoor theme and used paper bags with
twine and cut branches from our tree in the backyard with
labels on the front thanking the guests for coming to the party.
These were created in Photoshop (thx Sis for your help),
then I printed them on 8 1/2 x 11 full sheet labels (Avery).
Then cut them out and stuck them on.
Super easy!!
This is what was inside.
A flashlight, pop rocks, chocolate bars, plastic bugs and a pocket knife.
I did tell each parent what was in the bag, so they could decide if and when each child would have it.
Kameron has a knife like this but he does not have possession of it. His dad has it and is in charge of when he has it and the proper way to use it.
They use it when they fish or camp.
He does not have full range use and access to it.
Well, that's it for the party. The boys had a great time, and guess what?
Not one of them even came in the house all night.
Not that I wouldn't let them or didn't want them in, but I wanted to make sure we kept the theme of camping, and give them the whole experience.
So when someone said they had to use the bathroom, I told them you're camping, go outside.
They didn't use the bushes, or trees but the dirt and guess what?
They LOVED it! They got to pee outside.
However, there's not a party without presents from Aunt Sheri.
So that day, the mail man came to the door with a box for Kameron
Here is the picture for Aunt Sheri.
All outdoor stuff, including a gift card to go to Bass Pro to buy more outdoor stuff.
He was very happy to have Aunt Sheri's (and Rick) present on the day of his party.
Thank you Aunt Sheri and Uncle Rick.
Aunt Sheri even put stuff in the box for Brooklin.
Tons of art supplies.
Brooklin was most happy to have more art to play with.
Little Coco got a present too.
An adorable little summer dress.
I think she loved it!!
Look at that smile.
Well, I told you it was a long post. It was a long night and a ton of pics.
There were a lot of details to share.
My family doesn't live close to us,
so this is a way for them to see what we did for the kids birthdays and events
since they can't be here.
I might add, this party barely cost us anything. You can do great parties without a lot of costs, not just for your kids, but for your family parties too.
The kids really don't know what you spend on them,
add a ton of little details and they won't even know.
All they really care about it getting together with their friends, especially at their own house.
So look around you and see what you have.
Most of what I used for this party, I already had on hand.
Well, hope you have a great day.
Thanks for stopping by.
Leave a comment and let me know you were here.
Til next Time with T!!
