Camping Birthday Magic

We are lucky enough to have two June birthdays close together, and since we have been working with our girls to foster an appreciation for outdoor fun, we chose a camping theme this year.

I saw some very adorable campfire cupcakes on Pinterest awhile back that inspired me, so I decided to give them a whirl. Living in a (very) tiny town, I could not find stick pretzels at either grocery store, and substituted with cookies sticks. For the flames, I used candy orange slices and cut them further into triangles, and the marshmallows I toasted on toothpicks over my propane stove. So much fun to put together, and they were definitely a hit with my kids and their friends.

Since the party fell on the hottest day of the year so far (almost 90 degrees! — in Alaska!), we opted out of lighting a real campfire, and instead cooked our hot dogs on the grill. The kids mixed their ice cream in our ice cream ball for their party game, and we pitched a tent for some camping inspired make-believe play. Our kids are young enough (2 and 4), that this was plenty of entertainment for all the kids.

We sent the kids home with trail-ready favor bags, each containing a Capri Sun, an Odwalla granola bar, and a Go-Go Squeeze applesauce pouch. I’m not a fan of cheesy plastic trinkets, and not much a fan of pre-packaged food either, but it was nice to be able to send a small token of thanks with some of our favorite adventurous families. I ended up with a few extra bags, and they actually have been super helpful the past week in getting the kids motivated and out the door. I just grab a bag for each kid, throw them in my pack, and we’re ready to hit the trail or go to the lake. Will definitely be working on getting some more eco-friendly and possibly reusable options made for future hikes!