Happy Camper

Our little girl will turn 5 in just a few days. Today was her friend birthday party and the theme was camping.

We set up a huge tent right in the middle of our family room. When you have a birthday in March, you never know if the weather is going to be nice enough to be outside. It turned out that the tent in the house was one of the biggest hits. The girls loved it. Henry was quite helpful getting us ready for the party.
The party girl.
We had some fun decorations. The huge tent in the family room, a small tent on the porch, tons of balloons, some backpacking stuff (canteen, compass, binoculars), a picture of a campfire on the wall, and a campfire in the living room. This one was pretty cool. Crackling fire sounds and everything.
Waiting for friends to arrive. As the guests arrived, Henry was in charge of helping them make a bag of GORP (Good Ole Raisins and Peanuts... and M&Ms). Then the games began. The sleeping bags in the tent had some "creepy crawlies" and the brave girls had to dive in to dig them out. This was great fun.
We sang camp songs in rounds (yes, 5 yr olds can sing in rounds!). Then I read some camp stories and told a ghost story ("I got ya where I want ya and now I'm gonna eat ya!"). As you see below, I used a bit of drama to tell the camp stories!
We played animal charades. Those girls were good actors. Pin the marshmallow on the campfire. A little bit of goofiness in the tent.



Wow! I got them all together for a photo.
Lunch (bbq'd hot dogs, chips, jello stars, ants on a log, and bug juice) and a campground cake. Make a wish... And blow out the candles.

Lots of fun presents.

Alice was pretty worn out by the time the party was over.
But I think she had a good time.