My baby is 9!

Yesterday was M's 9th birthday - where in the heck has the time gone? As always her birthday is a whirlwind of activity. First on Friday we went to school for her "celebration". They light a candle representing the sun, and the birthday child walks around it carrying a globe to represent each year of their life. All the while, the kids are singing, "The earth goes around the sun, tra la, the earth goes around the sun, tra la, around and around and around and around and now, M is...". Following each "revolution" we present a picture of her within that year and tell a story. As you can imagine, as she gets older, this becomes a much longer process! I was joking that it's a good thing Montessori doesn't go till HS b/c I'm not sure I could handle the earth going around the sun 18 times!

After the school celebration, D, Mom and I took M out for lunch at Ruby Tuesday (her choice). Then it was time to prepare for the real "party".

This year M wanted to go camping, so we invited a few of her friends to join us at our favorite campground where we'd rented 2 yurts - one for the kids, and one for the adults. Well, when we made this plan we were expecting more kids and more adults. What we ended up with was 3 kids and 2 adults. Needless to say, there was a lot of extra room! BUT - the girls needed their full 30' yurt to spread out in (apparently, based upon the mess they made in their), and D needed his own sanctuary away from women!

SO, we arrive on Friday evening just in time for the girls to rush the campground store and make purchases of everything they couldn't live without (matching arrowhead necklaces, friendship bracelets, deodorant,...you know, all a 9 year old girl needs to camp!). M took her 2 friends (former Montessori kids who have moved on to their local public schools) on a tour of the campground while D and I got set up. Actually, D went ahead and had things pretty well set up by the time we got there, which was AWESOME! D made an awesome dinner of burgers and chips, and then we enjoyed the campfire telling stories, jokes, singing songs, and giggling...a lot! At about 9:30, we sent the girls inside to get ready for bed, then it became clear there was going to be no me in the adult yurt. I moved my stuff from the adult yurt to the kid yurt and set up camp on what the girls called the "spider bed" (there had been 2 large-ish spiders found near this bed, therefore none of them would sleep in it). All 3 girls tried to share a bed, but eventually M moved to another one to sleep. I stayed up reading for a little bit until all were definately asleep, then crawled into my sleeping bag for the nite.

Now, I should take a moment to describe yurt camping, if you have never done it. Basically it's like a cabin, but with canvas sides and a wooden floor. There's a wood stove inside and electricity as well. The girls yurt had a ping pong table and 3 bunk beds - 2 with queens on the bottom, and one traditional bunk with a twin on the bottom. There was also a sofa, love seat, table, ceiling fan...so basically a bad hotel room or the best tent EVER! D set up our porta potty in the "potty tent" on the deck of the yurt for night time potty runs (we don't need the girls setting out on adventures in the middle of the nite). SO - not exactly roughing it - perfect for 3 9 year old girls who go between being "girly girls" and "tom boys".

We brought along several activities for the girls to do, such as coloring on a large roll of paper, a puzzle, notebooks, a scavenger hunt, and t-shirts to decorate with Sharpies. They had a blast with all of these activities! In addition, on site there's a pond where you can't swim, but can wander around and explore the salamanders that live in there. There's also an RC car track where you can drive these way cool cars around, off jumps, through the dirt, and otherwise wreak havoc with these nearly indestructable vehicles. They also have gold panning and offer a treasure hunt with a metal detector (D & M did this on our last family trip there and deemed it more trouble than it was worth). AND, if you're super adventurous, they have 2 full paint ball courses. We opted out of the paintball, but the girls did nearly everything else on site.

Saturday morning, they awoke at 6:45am. Seriously...it was crazy! D took over and I went back to bed for a couple hours. The girls did all the campground activities before lunch. After lunch we headed off to Butte Creek Falls (or "Butt Crack" Falls, as we like to call it). It's a short drive from the campground, then a short hike down to a pool at the bottom of a waterfall. We have visited there a couple times before doing everything from wading in the water to full on swimming (which resulted in D getting hypothermic from the cold water, and our good friend creating a song to commemmorate the occasion..."D almost died today, Doo Dah, Doo Dah"...so now we don't get heads wet when we go there). The girls (and D) had a great time wading around in the water, throwing rocks, climbing up the other side, exploring and such. Well, that is until M fell and landed square on her hand, then the drama began. She was convinced she'd broken her hand (it was quite swollen, but I'm still calling it a bone bruise, not a break b/c she has full mobility of her thumb). Everyone decided it was time to head back to camp after this. So, we began the hike back up to the van. Part way up, one of the girls got dizzy from the hike and we stopped to have a snack, but all was well and we continued on.

Back at camp, D headed down into town to pick up the birthday cake and I stayed behind to supervise. First I made the girls clean up their yurt - it seriously looked like it had vomited upon itself. They did a passable job of cleaning, so we headed off for another run at the RC cars. While there they met a boy who's Dad works there, and he showed them where the "hidden" tire swing was. Then it became a boys vs. girls situation and drama ensued. Typical 9 year old stuff, I calmly sat and read my book while they ran amok, being "chased" by the boys.

D got back, we got dinner ready, then had the official birthday party. After the party, we traveled around the campground offering leftover cake to other campers, then the girls put on a show for D and I at the stage there.

Back to the campsite for campfire fun. Well, as the girls were getting ready for bed, all hell broke loose. One of them started complaining of a tummy ache (I'm NOT surprised as she was eating everything that wasn't tied down during the day), then was home sick. The other girl got homesick, too, and soon all were in tears (M with sympathy tears for her friends). I explained that we were about 2 hours from home, but that if they wanted, I would bring them home then, OR they could go to sleep and we'd head out in the morning. I was sure it was nothing a good nite's sleep wouldn't cure as they were all exhausted. WELL, needless to say after talking amongst themselves, we packed up and headed home at 9:30pm last nite. D stayed behind to clean up and leave this morning.

I handed off one girl at 11pm to her mother, then took the other home where we had to wait a bit for her mother to get home from a party she was at, handed her off at 11:30pm, then headed home. After a brief visit with Mom, who had just gotten off work, M and I curled into bed for the nite.

SO - lessons learned? 9 year old girls = drama. Expect the unexpected. Be flexible, and go with the flow.

Next year, I'm thinking a local, non-sleepover party...