Happy Birthday, Alex!!

I can hardly believe that my sweet Alex has turned 9 years old. We celebrated his birthday over the weekend with a group of boys at the park. His party was a "Geochaching Adventure." If you are not familiar with Geochaching, it is sort like a treasure hunt using a GPS. "Caches" are hidden all over the United States (and maybe all over the world) just waiting for someone with a GPS to find them. You probably pass by several throughout your day without even knowing it. My boys love to hunt for these hidden boxes and there are several located in a nearby park. Alex decided that he wanted to invite some friends to go Geochaching and roast hot dogs in the fireplace at the park.

Alex chose green camouflage invitations and decorations for his party. We kept the decorations simple with just streamers and balloons because the pavilion that we rented already had an "outdoorsy" rustic look to it.

Once all of the boys arrived at the party, Mike took them all into the woods to look for the hidden boxes.  Before the party we secretly hid one special box full of kites for each boy.

Anna Grace and I stayed back at the pavilion to wait for the boys to return.  She was not too happy that she did not get to join them in the woods.  

When all of the boys returned, we went to the playground for the boys to climb, swing, and run off some energy. 

Finally it was time to roast hot dogs.  The park has a great 2 sided stone fireplace in the pavilion that we rented, so the boys were able to crowd around both sides of the fire to cook their supper.

Mike decorated Alex's cake to look like the trails, swamp, and creek in the woods.  He even added a special spot on the cake for the location of the hidden cache!

At the end of the party, each boy was given a bag of trail mix with a paper compass tag that said "Thanks for helping me hunt for some fun!"

Alex had a great time at his party this year.  It was simple and easy to plan, but I think all of the boys enjoyed trying something new!