Thirteen

My firstborn is a teenager.  Today is his thirteenth birthday and I can hardly believe he's that old.  He's an amazing kid and I'm so proud of him and of who he's becoming.

Last night we celebrated Elijah with a Scavenger Hunt party.  I think it was one of the easiest parties I've planned and maybe the most fun.  The kids all seemed to have a great time.

We divided the ten kids into three different teams (each with an adult driver), reviewed the rules, and sent them off with clipboards containing their lists and a bucket for collecting items.  The lists were two-fold:  a list of items to collect and a list of items to photograph.  Coming up with the lists was so fun and we had some great items for the kids to find.

Phil and I drove separate vehicles and we painted our windows beforehand, all in the name of competition.  Elijah was a bit embarrassed at first but quickly got over it.

We drove all over our area of town, collecting and photographing, and I loved seeing the kids laughing and having so much fun.

The kids had a prompt time they had to be back at the house in order to avoid point deduction.  Pizza was waiting and the kids ate, talked, and did what teenagers do {and they did it noisily, I might add}.

Eli chose brown and blue as the colors for the party and I set the table in a utilitarian style, using kraft paper accents, old vintage papers for tags, and brown and white twine {lots of the items I used were purchased from Garnish ... I love Garnish!}.  Brown argyle fabric covered the table with a kraft paper runner.

The garland was in place, chips and pretzels were served out of folded-down paper bags, plates and straws sat in an old crate, and a large paper mache 13 sat at the center of the table (which was actually a large B cut in half ... who knew they didn't make large numbers?).

Blue candies accented the table, and piles of pizza boxes sat at the center of it all.  I was a bit disappointed Cici's didn't go along with my color theme.

Blue and brown cupcakes finished the meal, all wrapped up in my Silhouette-cut wrappers {which looked really great ... oh how I love my Silhouette!}.

At the end of the party, the kids messed around on a graffiti wall (which was actually sitting on the table instead of attached to the wall).

Eli said it was the best party he's had and I think we all had a great time.  Happy Birthday, Eli!


I'm linking to Sunday Showcase Party, Craft-O-Maniac Monday, Making Monday Marvelous