Hiking, Campfire & S'Mores

Mason's 5th birthday party was a HUGE success...and it was all HER idea! She told us earlier this summer that she wanted to go on a hike and have a camping birthday party. Sounded great to us! We reserved a campsite at Paris Mountain State Park and started planning our party. We were lucky enough to have Ranger Kathy lead a way-cool creek hike to start the party. We had 8 girls plus a few parents join in on the hike. They were each given nets and discovered all kinds of creatures that make their homes in the creek. Everyone loved it!

They made their way back to the campsite where we were going to cook hotdogs over the campfire. We forgot the "fire" so we had to borrow a torch from some neighboring campers to get the fire started. Mason called her "guy" Bootie and asked him to come to her birthday party with his guitar. There was no way he could say no once he listened to her message! So...while the campfire getting hot enough to cook on, Bootie led the group in some fun camp songs starting with a great rendition of "Happy Birthday" for the birthday girl!

Once the fire was ready, we armed the campers with clothes hangers for their cooking sticks. It didn't take long and the whole group was eating hotdogs and potato chips. Even a few of the adults decided to roast a hot dog or two! Once everyone had finished their supper we moved right into CAKE! It was almost time for people to go home, but we had to roast marshmallows and make S'Mores. What's a camping "trip" without S'Mores!? Some of our campers only wanted marshmallows, others only wanted chocolate and some only wanted graham crackers - there were all kinds of S'Mores that evening! We had a great time and were sorry to see the party come to a close.

Our family was planning on staying and camping, but I forgot our clothes! Since it was 7:30, we decided to call it a night and plan a camping trip sometime this fall! I think I was so focused on the party part, the camping part got forgotten! The birthday girl didn't ask about spending the night there, so we figured we were safe to go home! Personally, it worked out great for me because I got to sleep late the next morning thanks to my wonderful in-laws! I know I would have been up at 6:00 if we'd camped. Ahhh....sleeping in - what a rarity anymore!