We celebrated Allison's birthday on Saturday, August 25th. Allison began talking about her birthday while we were on our road trip, in early August, and was over the moon excited to plan a party. Steve and I had a different idea about how we were going to celebrate the kids this year, but we had kept it a surprise, so it was difficult to put Allie off when she mentioned her big ideas for a birthday party, without giving away our secret. She had been torn between inviting friends and having a "just family" birthday like last year, so when I told her we wouldn't be having a big party with friends, she was satisfied. Mostly, she just needed to have a plan.
Next, she was determined to pick a theme. It started out as a wolf theme to include her new wolf pup from Yellowstone, but as she set out describing the decorations she was going to make, it evolved into a camping theme. When we realized the date of her party was the actual birthday for our National Parks, that sealed the deal. Home only a few days from our road trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, Allison wanted a National Park birthday with family.
With only a bit of help, she called family and set the date, made her invitation, colored and hung her decorations, coordinated her camping outfit and made her cake with Grama.
As the day approached she thought about activities and planned a "scavenger hunt" for her guests. She hid her Calico Critters like Easter eggs and wanted her guests to find them.
After opening her presents, I set the kids loose on another kind of scavenger hunt. They were given riddles to solve in order to find their next clue. (Disclaimer, I take no credit. I found the idea and the clues on the internet). I don't think they realized it, but the clues were all Disney themed and had a word written on the back. At the end, the clues together spelled out our birthday surprise:
"Peyton and Allison, Pack your bags because we're going to Disneyland on August 29th!"
They didn't quite know what to think at first. I'm not even sure they understood exactly what they were going to do. As the news started to sink in, they were pretty excited. In four days time, we would fly down to California and spend 3-days visiting Disneyland to celebrate not just Allison's birthday, but Peyton's birthday, too!
Allison, after all the fuss, it was hard to remember what the day was all about.
This was your special day.
Happy 7th birthday, Allison!
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