WoW! One of my craziest ideas ever! Jacob's birthday was back in July and he wanted to have a camp out for a birthday party. Not wanting kids to bake in our tent, we promised him one as soon as the weather got cooler. Holy cow!, did it get cooler! Friday night was ridiculously cold! Did that stop me? Oh no!! I wanted the party to go on! I counted 18 kids! 18! OMG! Thanks to the parents who stayed a bit at drop-off, we managed to get everyone a hot dog and juice! The wind started picking up and as any co-op parent knows that make the kids go wild! Surprisingly, there weren't many melt downs or fighting. Every kid had their own flashlight, goody bag, and didn't need much more than that. Jacob's room looks like it threw up toys, but at least it all stayed in there! My hubby was great at organizing the s'mores assembly line, each kid really got to make their own s'more! The boys were cracking me up! Once they figured out they could set the marshmallow on fire, their little eyes were the size of baseballs and they were in little boy heaven! No accidents or burned fingers (amazing, considering the wind!) just happy chocolate covered faces! My one regret...no picture of s'mores! I guess keeping them safe was more important......After s'mores the kids started setting up camp in the tent, who would be sleeping next to who and who would share pillows with who, and who had brought their pj's. Nighttime routine started and kids were changing all over the place and it was so funny to hear every one's excuse to not brush their teeth! As if I didn't know that every one's mom had them brush their teeth at night! I seriously had this talk with 4 kids, " Well, I know you don't want to brush your teeth, but I noticed your mom packed your toothbrush and toothpaste so might as well use it!" Glad to know it's not only my kid who tries to weasel their way out of things! At about 9, our merry group dwindled down to the last 8. The mighty 8 who would be spending the night! I tried many many times, usually on the hour every hour, to change their minds and point out how cold it was and "did anyone want to sleep inside?" NOPE! They were a determined group! Not a single one of them hesitated or shivered! They were going to sleep out there even if Ms. Almond said they would turn into Popsicles! Sean was first to fall asleep, definitely a deep sleeper. He was stepped on (by accident of course) a few times, didn't even flinch. Katie and Cesi were next, they were the enforcers and wanted everyone asleep and shushed everyone to death!, then they passed out! Logan B wrapped his sleeping bag over his head and ignored the giggling 4, Aurora Jacob, Amanda, and Ian. They were telling ghost stories (honestly this is the one thing I would do differently..I wish I had taught Jacob some ghost stories beforehand! Poor kids didn't know where to start!) Here was one of them..."Once there was this sandwich....it had cheese in it" and then the kids would giggle like crazy! They finally passed out by 11pm. I couldn't fall asleep so I stayed up with my friend Kristina and we kept peeking into the tent, wrapping more and more blankets over them as the wind got colder and colder. I literally used every blanket in my house and still their cheeks were freezing! I finally climbed into my sleeping bag around 2am. I could not get warm! These kids were not budging! Meanwhile, my husband is upstairs all snug in our bed because he had a race the next morning! No fair! Around 5am we had a night terror incident and all I will say about that is how impressed I was by the compassion the rest of the group showed. They all woke up and were so concerned about their friend and only had sweet words to say to get them back to sleep. Really great group of kids! They snuggled in the bags for another hour and as a group decided to run inside for cartoons! They each got to pick out their own donut and Jacob got to open up his presents! My kiddo had the twinkle in his eye and red rosy cheeks, it was definitely worth it! Crazy!, but worth it!
