Backyard Birthday Campout

So the first of September was pretty much a blur.  We were still adjusting to the new school schedule, had PTA activities at school, lots of church stuff going on and political conventions to watch.  I had asked Ashley to hold of on having a party on her birthday because it was the first week of school and it is just too hectic of a time for everyone.  We figured that sometime in the first part of September would be good, especially because she wanted an outdoor party and needed the weather to still be warm.

Of course, I'm not sure that September was any less busy than August, but we just decided to go for it.  Ashley wanted to have a sleepover campout in the backyard.  This was the first time we had ever allowed her to have a slumber party...and we made them sleep outside, but it was still exciting for them. 

She had about 8 nine friends over, but not all could spend the night which was fine because that left plenty of room in the tent.  It was a pretty simple party, we made home macaroni and cheese, put it into pie tins, added favorite toppings and then warmed them on the grill.  Then the girls played some outdoor games which included a bunch of "minute-to-win-it" type challenges.  After it got dark they played "ghost in the graveyard" and a bunch of other games with glow sticks, etc.  It's pretty nice that they entertain themselves.  The best part was that when it got late instead of having them run around the house all night, we sent them outside to hangout in the tent.  I slept downstairs so I could be nearby if needed.  I also figured that if I could hear them from inside my house then so could my neighbors.  If I couldn't hear them then there shouldn't be a problem.  The night went by pretty uneventfully, I never heard a sound and we didn't get any complaints from the neighbors, although we have such good neighbors they'd be pretty understanding.

In fact, the noise actually came from our neighbors when they let their dog out early in the morning.  He came running out right up to the fence near the tent and just went on a barking frenzy trying to figure out who was in that big tent in our yard.  Needless to say, the crew was up early and ready for breakfast.  You might think I made pancakes or some other hot cooked breakfast, but you'd be wrong.  We had a cereal buffett.  I bought a huge variety of sugar cereals and let the girls have whatever they wanted.  I think they thought it was pretty fun to be able to open a bunch of different boxes and eat cereals their responsible mothers don't buy!