Caleb's Hunting Party

For Caleb's 12th birthday, he asked if we could have a Hunting themed party for a few of his friends.  This was a fun party to put together, and now, all the boys want to have one for themselves!  Here's what we did:

As the boys arrived, they gathered around the "campfire" in the backyard with their Hunting Instructor, aka, Mark:

Mark and I gave them some instructions and guidance for the first activity, a scavenger hunt:

We had a slip of paper for each of them with a combination of numbers:

Their job was to run around the yard and find targets like the one below.  Once they found it, they were to look on the back.  Each of their names was listed there with some letters beside it.  These letters went on their slip of paper under the correct number:

Gathering letters:

Kenna got in on the fun and helped Max, the youngest of the group!

As hot as it was, the boys had a blast running around and finding the targets that Mark had hidden - very well, I may say!

Hmmmm, did Caleb find any in that tree???

Mark hid them near and far...

Max, filling in his letters:

Once they collected all of their letters, they were able to read a hunting word and earn their prize (to be told below!)  Next up was target practice.  Mark gave them a safety talk, set up a target and let the boys chose the airsoft gun they wanted to practice with.  The boys were pretty serious about their aim!

Caleb used a handgun

Jack went for the shotgun...

Max liked the pistol...

Andrew used his handgun...

Dawson used a machine gun type...

Dylan went for the handgun... (seems to be the favorite)

Once everyone had a round of practice, we gave them their prizes, Marshmallow blowers that Mark and Caleb made for the boys, ammo attached!

Max had a little bit of fun with his!

They all took their guns into the yard and had a 'blast' (teehee) blowing them at each other, trees, squirrels, the air, etc.

Marshmallow guns are pretty cool!  They work really well and you can take them apart and recreate them any way you like, kind of like legos!  But the next big hit was the smores on a stick, below:

I took marshmallows, dipped them in melted chocolate, then in crushed graham crackers.  The kids loved these!  And no smores mess!  They each got a hot dog and roasted it over the 'campfire' - hunting does create a hearty appetite!

More free shooting followed, then it was time for the cake.  We had a few 'issues' with the cake, but in the end, it was not too bad...  Notice the sleeping bad in the tent, the marshmallows ready to roast, and the campfire, with the candle inside to light it!  OK, so it's not the best cake ever, but the kids all ooohhed and aaaahhhhed over it, Caleb loved it, and it tasted amazing, so that's what counts!

Here's a shot with the fire lit:

I meant to get a picture with all of us, dressed in our camo, but the girls got in the shower and changed before I remembered.  Argg!  Well, here are Caleb, Mark and I anyway...

Just trust me that the girls had on camo, too!  Ummm, any one but me realize how tall my 12 year old is???  Can we slow this down a bit?  I don't think we can keep up with the clothes anymore!  Help!!!!

So, Caleb loved his party, the kids played hard and a good time was had by all - Success!