Rory Kate’s 1st Birthday Campout!

My daughter Rory Kate is really, really fun.  She loves being outside, crawling really fast, and eating snacks.  I decided to throw her a campout birthday party for her friends, and since it’ll be our last time hanging out with these folks for a while (we’re moving to california next week) we decided to go all out for one last playtime together.

As guests arrived, they were directed to head to the backyard with sweet pink wood signs.  My 2.5 year old Leah helped make these signs, and it was such a blast.  She did a lot of the painting (we squirted on some pink paint, and she spread it around with a wadded up paper towel – the result is a rustic stained-wood look.)

After arriving at Camp Rory, guests headed to the Camper Registration table to pick up their camping equipment.  The under-1 crowd received stainless steel sippy cups, and their older siblings received sunglasses, and a camping merit badge to wear during the party.

We filled the backyard with tents and picnic blankets and camp chairs.  The kids loved playing and snacking in the tents.

Rory Kate wore an owl shirt that read “Camp RoryKate – What a HOOT!”

And – tissue pom owls.  After making pom animals for Annika’s farm party, I knew that we could easily do an owl variation for this party.  So colorful and so fun.

All of Rory’s friends are under the age of 3, so snacks had to be:  1) yummy. 2) finger food. 3) sweet. 4) yummy.  We called our treat table our “Mess Hall” just like summer camp.

Leah helped me make some S’mores Sticks – marshmallow on a stick, dipped in chocolate, rolled in graham cracker crumbs.

Dirt Cups (chocolate pudding with crumbled oreos on top +  flower + gummy worm garnish.)

Mix-your-own Trail Mix (dried fruit, fruity cheerios, bunny grahams, raisins.)

(No Spoon Required) Wildberry Parfaits.  Loving these reusable push-up containers.  So did the kiddos.

We also served a ton of presliced fruits and veggies, and Ladybugs on a Log (dried cranberry variation of ants on a log.)  We served apples and oranges to pay tribute to our sweet Washington home, and our new California home.

All the bigger kids had a personalized cup, prefilled with “Bug Juice” (berry punch + lemonade).  With different colored cups, kids were better able to keep track of their own cups (and spread their summer colds a bit less easily.)

After snacking, Rory’s guests headed over to the Arts and Crafts area to make handprint trees.  We had one large canvas for all of the kids to add handprint “leaves” to (for Rory’s new room in California) and individual canvases for each child to take home.  We had a bucket of water and lots of towels nearby for quick hand cleaning after painting.

It was a really great day, filled with lots of fun, yummy treats, and great friends.