Great party idea, kid!

Last year was the Bug's first "friend birthday," and did we ever have a throw-down.  Practically every kid in the preschool along with our other friends' kids were in our back yard, throwing balls at each others' heads and doing daredevil tricks on the hammock.  It was a nutso insane, super fun, free-for-all.

This year, the Bug had her own idea.  She wanted to invite only a few friends (all girls, of course) to our house for an obstacle course, scavenger hunt and egg race.  Honestly, I thought it sounded a little weird.

So with all the end-of-the-year madness I didn't give it much (any?) thought after sending out the initial evite.  Until the night before.  Then I blasted some Lady Gaga Radio and came up with a vision. 

We planted the "obstacle course" (really, a series of games/activities) around the back yard, along with the kids' goodie bags.  The scavenger hunt items were all things that could potentially be found in our yard.  Each kid got one of these cards and a couple sheets of stickers, which they placed on the activities completed and items found until their card was full.  Honor system ruled.  Creative accounting was celebrated: Ladybug print on the raincoat? Fair game  Found a feather? What is a bird, really, if not a concentrated bunch of feathers.  (Incidentally, even though all wildlife steered very clear of our yard that day, each kid miraculously "found" a deer.)

The crowd favorite, despite all expectations - and despite the fact I only learned that the eggs were supposed to be hard boiled at midnight - was the egg race.  The kids just looped and looped around the relay.  Then some of them ate the eggs (!!!!) while others added them to their goodie bags.  One girl even decorated hers for her dad, to be presented two weeks later on Fathers' Day.  Oy.

It was a wild success.  Perchance I'll be less skeptical of the Bug's next brainstorm.