The Treasure Hunt Birthday

We had decided several years ago that when the boys turned 8 years old, they could have a "real" birthday party, so this year Stephen asked to have a Treasure Hunt birthday. It was such a fun idea and the kids LOVED it! Bonus for me: it wasn't that hard to plan, execute and clean up either!

We decided to celebrate twice, though, because we babysit several children after school and Stephen wanted all of them to participate as well as his best friends from church. I'm thinking that maybe it was a good idea to do it twice. That way I had a trial run the first time and fine tuned it to run MUCH more smoothly the second time! I have a year and a half to convince Timothy, though, that two parties is not only unnecessary, but it will also be non-existent. We painted and then decorated treasure chests as part of the party favors for the kids to take home. After each game we played, the prize was another "treasure" for them to put in their boxes: chocolate coins, candy necklaces, Hershey's kisses, and $100 paper napkins that were supposed to be used, but the kids all wanted to save them and put them in their boxes!

At birthday party #1, we had X Marks the Spot cupcakes. Inside each cupcake was an M&M treasure. So simple, but such a hit with the kids!

We also had several treasure hunts. This is one of the teams reading their next clue after finding this one on a jar of jam in the refrigerator.

Here are two of the treasure chests that the kids made.

And here is the REAL birthday cake! A treasure chest FULL of treasures!

Wouldn't this tempt any child?! They loved this cake and had such fun helping to decorate it! (Thank you FamilyFun.go.com for the great idea!) Stephen's joy and excitement was worth every moment spent preparing for this special party of his. I think that what touched me the most, though, was the way he handled himself and was very kind and considerate and gracious the whole time. I was surprised at his maturity because I had seriously thought I'd have a wild and crazy kid to deal with at his one and only "real" birthday party. I guess he's growing up. Sniff. Sniff. Sniff. Just yesterday he was a teeny tiny preemie and today he's showing the beginnings of becoming a fine, young man. Thank you, Lord, for my precious son!