I knew today’s Blogtember prompt was to share a vlog, so I had planned to take plenty of video from Ella’s party for you. When I got to the barn that afternoon, I realized that my video camera didn’t have a memory card inside, so I had to use my big girl camera for both video and photographs. It was hard toggling back and forth while trying to monitor the party and keep everyone happy, but I’m super happy with how it turned out. I’ve been saying for actual years that I was going to start sharing more video here and now that I finally know how to edit and make it all pretty, that might actually happen. How excited are you? No, really… HOW excited?!
This was the most atypical birthday party that I’ve ever thrown and simultaneous the most fun. If you’ve been reading here for any amount of time, then you’ll know that we tend to think bigger is better when it comes to birthday celebrations. We plan for months and cover every tiny detail and craft and decoration and, ultimately, stress ourselves out. As overwhelming as that sounds, it is always so much fun and I love doing everything I can to make the day as perfect as I can for the birthday girl.
For her tenth birthday, Ella requested a summer camp themed party and had very specific requests for how things would go. I could have easily made this a super cutesy party with themed foods and all sorts of printable paper products, but I decided to keep it simple and just relax. I spent exactly $118 on a slumber party for twelve girls and it was SO MUCH FUN. The moral of this story is that over-the-top parties are amazing and beautiful and, let’s face it, probably going to occur here regularly. BUT, you can have just as much fun on a shoestring budget with a heaping dose of creativity. Wanna see?
In my original plans, I had no intentions of using the camper at all. I wanted to set up some sort of elaborate tent like structure near the fire pit, but the closer to party day we got, the simpler our vision became. My parents camper is usually parked here anyway, so we opened up the awning for flamingo string lights, added plenty of outdoor decor and a picnic table for dinner. The sun sets behind my parents’ house, so a pretty pink sky late in the afternoon was the perfect backdrop for our summer camp adventure.
The invitations were the most involved thing I did and I’m so happy with how they turned out. A woodgrain background and fun campy graphics really set the theme and a “packing list” on the back let the girls know exactly what to expect! We picked up hot pink flashlights (and extra batteries) at the dollar store and tied on custom name tags with pink and white bakers twine. We had these sitting on a table near the camper and the girls loved carrying these around all night. Especially since they had to walk to the house every time they needed a potty break!
I wish I had snagged more photos of the birthday girl with her guests, but once everyone started arriving, I was overwhelmed with things to do. Kynnedi was our first guest to arrive, so I managed to get one of these two before things got crazy. Ella and Kyn have been dancing together for eight years and are such sweet friends!
What’s a campout without multiple pairs of Chacos?!
In years past, we’ve had parties with school friends, some with dance friends and some with both. For a slumber party of this size, we decided to stick with one group of friends since everything runs smooth when the girls all already know each other! These are such sweet friends to our girls and since they spend so much time together already, there isn’t any drama or hurt feelings to deal with on a few hours of sleep. We were missing three of our sweet friends who already had weekend obligations, but the ten of them who were able to party with us, were so much fun!
Once all of our campers arrived, they quickly changed into swimsuits and spent some time in the water while Gran and Poppy cooked dinner. My parents and my sister were so sweet to spend the night with us and make sure we had plenty of lifeguards and after dark assistance.
After they worked up a good appetite, the girls fueled up on hot dogs and chips (and maybe a few soft drinks — sorry, moms) before playing tag in the dark with their flashlights. I had no idea that would be such a huge hit, but they played for hours and the squeals and giggles were music to my ears. My parents and I sat under the awning and counted girls as they ran by, but it was a nice little break in the middle of the party. Ella decided to open her gifts in the dark right after dinner, so the girls all shined a flashlight her way. We opened them again for Josh the next morning and got a much better look with plenty of daylight on our side.
Earlier last week, Ella made a last minute request for an arts and crafts moment at the party. After searching Pinterest, we came up with a great idea that would work for all ages (check back here next week for details). I set up a long table full of various supplies and we helped the girls braid, tie knots and wrap beads on their yarn.
They were ready for a change of pace after that (ridiculously long) adventure, so we moved to the air mattresses for popcorn and The Princess Bride. Can we talk about how hard it is to choose a movie for 10 to 13 year old girls?! Our dance team has a good variety of ages, so finding something appropriate for everyone and parent approved was ROUGH. We opted for The Princess Bride and ET and just covered our ears during some less-than-stellar language! While the girls waited on popcorn, they took a quick social media break and posted way too many Instagram and Musical.ly moments. I am completely fascinated by this age. For what it’s worth, Ella doesn’t have a phone or an Instagram account, but she does have a private Musical.ly account where she can connect with dance and school friends only. It is heavily monitored and she wasn’t allowed to bring her iPad to the party, so they posted on a few girls accounts who do have phones. It was both hilarious and terrifying to watch!
We had a pretty successful night, all things considered. A few girls were asleep by midnight, half by one o’clock and all but one by two o’clock. We had one case of homesickness that waned about three o’clock and I was finally able to turn out the lights. I got up and enjoyed a cup of coffee with my mom around seven and we heard giggles galore by 8:30. I honestly couldn’t believe how happy they seemed after so little sleep, but they were all packed and back in the pool within thirty minutes!
My mom set up a pancake station and the girls enjoyed breakfast in their pajamas. We invited Ella’s family over to eat breakfast mid-morning, so the pool was a happening place to be by nine o’clock.
After most of her friends left, she sat down to open gifts and cards from a few family members and then she crashed pretty hard. By the time Josh and I had the cars packed with party supplies and all the air mattresses returned to their rightful owners, both of my girls were in the car and melting down quick. We raced everybody home for a very long nap and hoped we would recover in time for the football game!
When we got home, we realized a big box of gifts had been delivered from my aunt, so we let her open them a day early. She was thrilled to find three of the biggest things on her wishlist inside: pink Hunter rain boots, a Yeti tumbler and a few pieces of Vera Bradley luggage. She doesn’t always get this many gifts, but double-digits means a little indulgence sometimes. Right? You can tell just how tired she was in these photos and it wasn’t long before we all crashed for about four hours. When I woke up, there were only about fifteen minutes left in the game! Oops.
[Also, can we take a minute to talk about how old she looks right here?! All of a sudden, she’s lost every ounce of sweet baby cheeks and her face is thinning out so much. She’s tall and well spoken and ten. What in the fresh heck?!]
Did you follow along on Snapchat? I shared a photo every fifteen to thirty minutes throughout the party and I love that I have that snapshot of the day preserved. Since the party crowd was a bit older and didn’t require constant assistance, I was able to capture so many cute moments. In case you aren’t already following along, I thought I’d share those here, too.
I’m joining Bailey for Blogtember, where we’ll be linking up daily posts throughout September. Visit Love Bailey Jean to see a list of the prompts and join in!
