We hadn't really thought about it all summer until a few days after returning home from our Colorado vacation at the end of July. At that point, we only had about two weeks to plan everything before school started, but it wasn't a problem at all as we decided to pretty much just recreate what we did last year. We even hosted it on the Friday evening before school started (August 10), as that worked out so well last year.
Last year, we did a camping theme with lots of fun decor! After the party was over, I packed up everything into a bin and put it in the attic in case we wanted to use it again. I was so thankful that I kept everything because that meant I could reuse it!
We put this sign in our flowerbed in the front of our house.
We set up activity stations just like last year. This included:
a table out by the fire pit for s'mores,
the playhouse for pretend play,
our new play set,
an obstacle course (we called it the "camp training course" and there were a few changes to this),
and a craft station!
We even did the same craft as last year because we had all the supplies already. Next year, we'll change it up a bit!
We even made sure to have a bunch of glow sticks for the kids. Last year, the glow sticks were an afterthought that I brought out because we happened to have a bunch on hand. They were such a hit, though, that I made sure to buy some especially for this.
We set chairs and our kid tables up on the back porch, and also encouraged our guests to bring their own chairs.
I even reused our "Camp Nelson" banner from last year!
Brooke was right in the middle of everything when I was trying to get the back porch set up. She was SO excited for our guests to begin arriving!
Inside the house, I also recycled most of our decor from last year.
These signs are my favorite :-).
Last year, we did a "Make Your Own Trail Mix" station that everyone seemed to really enjoy. However, we had pretty much decided against doing it again this year because it was such an added expense in addition to everything else. Then, Chris and I decided we would ask our guests to bring their favorite trail mix ingredients to the party so we could still do it.
It worked out beautifully! I think two families brought pretzels (one regular and one pretzel sticks), but there were no other overlaps besides that. Our guests grazed on it all evening and there were very few ingredients left over at the end of the party!
Our menu included hot dogs, chili, fritos, fruit, cheese, and condiments. S'mores were our dessert.
I do the hot dogs in the slow cooker and that works perfectly. This menu is great because it's easy for a crowd but more than just finger foods.
We are ready for our 2nd annual Back-to-School Bash!
Chris had taken the day off work to mow, set up the obstacle course, and help me get the house ready. We worked most of the day, and everything was ready to go by about 5:00pm. However, around 4:00pm, the sky began to really cloud over and look dark. We were pretty nervous that it was going to open up and pour buckets at any minute. Thankfully, it never did and the cloud cover helped the temps to be a little cooler!
For our event, I had created a FB page to send invites, messages, and updates about the party. I had requested that people respond so we'd have an idea of how many guests we could expect. Initially, we had over 40 confirm that they were coming, but about 9 of those let me know the day-of that they wouldn't be able to make it. This was certainly no problem, and we were still expecting a great crowd. The party was set to begin at 6:00pm, but by about 6:05pm we didn't have any guests yet. I knew we'd have people come, but there was a tiny part of me that got a little nervous, haha. And Brianna? She was flipping out because no one had arrived yet! Soon enough, though, our guests began to arrive, and we soon had a houseful of friends! For our record, the guests included: Russ, Lisa, Chloe Jo, Shana, Jason, Zack, Jordyn, Anna, Mark, Gavon, Blake, Nicole, Jeff, Ethan, Madelyn, Lana, Brant, Avery, Jade, Paul, Rebekah, Hayden, Avery, Joe, Cassie, Abby, and Zeke, in addition to our family.
After our guests arrived, Chris said a few words thanking everyone for joining us, then Russ prayed over all the students, teachers, and parents who were soon beginning school. Then, we started eating!
Russ, Shana, and Jordyn
Brenson and his friend, Zack
Chloe Jo, Hayden, Brianna, and Blake
Chris, Cassie, Joe, and Zeke
Brecklyn and Brooke
Brenson and Zeke
Funny story that happened not too long before I took the above photo . . . Brenson and Zack had finished eating and were down at the fire pit to roast marshmallows. I wasn't too worried about it until I looked down there and saw one of them waving a flaming marshmallow all around! Zack's mom, Shana, saw this about the same time I did, so we both ran down there before someone or something got burned! This was just a few minutes after Shana had run to come find me when one of our tiki torches caught fire *sigh*. A little later in the evening, Chris (who was assigned fire pit duty after this, haha) had a hole burned in his shorts by a child with a roasting skewer. At the end of the night, we were very thankful there were no true accidents!
After eating, all the kids enjoyed our activity stations!
Abby, Brianna, Hayden, and Zeke
Brooke, Nicole, Madelyn, and Jade
Madelyn, Brecklyn, and Brooke
Abby and Brianna
Ethan going through the obstacle course
Avery, Avery, and Blake in the play house
The adults were having a good time visiting, eating, and watching the kids.
Lisa and Russ
Nicole, Mark, and Jeff holding Madelyn
Joe, Abby, Anna, Brianna, and Chloe Jo crafting
Brooke and Hayden
Brecklyn and Avery
Ethan
Brianna and Abby
Sweet Brecklyn
Gavon and Blake
Brianna, Chloe Jo, and Avery
Avery, Jade, and Lana
Blake and Anna
Nicole and Ethan
Rebekah, Chelley, and Lisa
Jade, Avery, Lana, Nicole, and Ethan
Cassie and Joe
The kids all ran and played SO hard. I loved watching them!
As the sun began to set, it was so fun to have our yard full of friends and laughter!
Right around the time it got dark, our friends slowly began leaving for home. I think everyone was gone by about 9:00pm, which is just right! All the kids were sweaty, sticky, and tired . . . just as it should be after a good summer evening! I think our Backyard Back-to-School Bash is quickly becoming one of our favorite traditions!
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