little sis' 11th birthday party.

*Today is Little sis' real birthday, but the day isn't over yet, so more pictures to come of the actual birthday -- for now, pictures of the party.*

This weekend was Little sis' 11th birthday party. I know. Eleven years old. Yikes. Camping was the "theme". Above is the cake that Mom and I made/decorated. The tent is chocolate pop tart with chocolate frosting on top. The tree is a sugar cone upside down with dark green stars piped on it. The fire pit is made out of chocolate rocks and the firewood is a pretzel rod broke in half.

So first off, friends and family came out to our house and after a water balloon fight and going down the water slide we headed down to the fire pit to roast hot dogs.

Then my Grandpa taught Little sis and her friends how to "drown" flies and "bring them back to life" with salt...ewwww.

Then we came inside for cake and ice cream.

When it came time for the classic "hold up how old you are on your fingers behind your cake" picture. We had to settle for one finger on each, because Little sis is officially out of fingers.

Next came present time. Little sis is the best present opener ever. She reads each card aloud and everything -- too cute. Seriously.

Then each girl decorated a pillow case with fabric markers. Way too much fun. They all signed each other's pillow cases -- they even let me sign them -- even though I'm old.

(photo credit, mom)

(photo credit, mom)

At dusk they ate watermelon and swung on the tire swing, then they all huddled inside on the couches and watched Tangled.

Then it was time to roast marshmallows and have smores, so we went down to the "camp site" again. Dad had hung Christmas lights between the trees. It looked like something out of a movie. A picnic table covered in red checkered tablecloth, fire pit made out of stone, fire blazing, citronella tiki torches flickering, and lights twinkling in the semi-darkness -- I would have loved to capture it for ya'll to see...sadly...ok, confession: I'm terrible at taking nighttime pictures. I don't like shooting with flash at all and I can't shoot well with flash. Sorry.

When the weather radar showed storms heading our way...we decided it best not to camp outside -- but inside. So we squeezed the huge tent through our doorway and they all camped out in the dining room. They stayed up til 4 o'clock. I went to bed.

For breakfast in the morning, Dad made the Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls. Yum.

Happy Monday!

-haley