Danielle's Birthday Party

December 11, 2010

Danielle celebrated her birthday with a sleepover at home this year. She invited eight girls, six of whom stayed the night. Twelve year old girls are easy to entertain, so we had a great time. We started off with pizza, naturally, and then the girls jumped into the pool, which we heated up just for the occasion. They all thought it was pretty cool to get to go swimming in December!
Afterward, they all came back in and got in their jammies to decorate sugar cookies. There were sprinkles and frosting and all sorts of candy they could decorate with, and they all got quite colorful with their designs. They were also fascinated with the decorating gel, which had very concentrated color--they were almost as interested in decorating their tongues as they were the cookies.

One of Danielle's girlfriends had a party where they did a game they had seen on the TV show "Minute to Win it." The object of the game--a race--is to place an oreo cookie on your forehead and move it down to your mouth to eat using only facial muscles. First one to drop the cookie into her mouth is the winner. (You know you want to try it--it sounds easier than it looks!) Danielle was really good at the game; I couldn't believe how fast she was able to move that cookie down her face. Maybe she's been practicing without me knowing it. And I thought Nicholas had been sneaking cookies during the week!

We also played a few rounds of soccer bingo--a holdover from the soccer party that we had a couple of weeks ago. Danielle thought it was so fun that she requested we do it again at her birthday party. I had picked up several little prizes the girls could choose from when they won, and we played long enough for each girl to come away with a little treat.

After that Danielle opened her presents, and then the girls settled in to watch the movie "Ramona and Beezus." By the time the movie was over, they were definitely ready to snuggle in their sleeping bags and go to sleep. There was only about fifteen minutes or so of giggling and chatting before they dropped off one by one.

The next morning, they all woke up bright and early, and as their parents came by to retrieve them, they excitedly told their parents how much fun it was to get to swim at night and decorate cookies as a craft. All in all, I'd say it was a pretty successful, if low-key, birthday party!