The big 13th b-day party...



Saturday night Bailey invited 14 friends - both boys and girls (yes, we ARE awesome parents, aren't we?) to her 13th b-day party. They arrived one-by-one at 6:00 p.m. Saturday night. With each new face to show up at the door, Lauren became more and more ecstatic. She LOVES to be included in the big-kid fun. The kids hung out at our house until 6:30. During that half-hour I heard lots of laughing, screaming, guitar-playing and general chatter. It was a wonderful sound....of teen excitement and happiness. Here is what it looked like just inside our front door during that first half-hour. I love this picture and hope our home can always be a place where Bailey and her friends can "hang out."
We then loaded everyone into two mini-vans and headed HERE where we were able to score the special spot designated for youth groups. Extra nice stone fire pit with benches surrounding it....lots of grass and trees. A beautiful spot! Mark & Bailey had gone out earlier in the day to set up a volleyball net and a canopy tent, so the kids immediately started playing volleyball (after circling in text messaging circles that is - ha). Anyway - Mark & I began unpacking all of the snacks, drinks, etc. and realized that I forgot the giant pack of hot dogs I had bought at Costco earlier in the day. AAAGH! Home is at least 20 min. away, so I drove about 10 miles back to civilization to buy more hot dogs.



When I returned the kids began roasting...and purposefully charring hot dogs. They listened to music, they made S'mores, they laughed and talked, played flashlight tag and had a really good time.
I'm so happy everyone had a good time - including Bailey. For a couple hours anyway - we were cool parents. I'm going to hang on to that memory in the coming years...I'm sure I'll need it. =-)

* A HUGE thanks to Grandma & Grandpa (again). Without their help this would NOT have happened. Grandma watched the little ones and Grandpa was INSTRUMENTAL in helping find this campgrounds for us. THANK YOU!!!